Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I am taking this Adjournment matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter.

Due to the mismanagement of the economy by the previous Government the current situation in this country is that the resourcing of An Garda Síochána, and indeed the public service as a whole, has been very seriously eroded. Our overall position is that the State is now dependent on funding from the ECB and IMF to meet its day-to-day expenditure.

All the Members of this House will be aware of the conditions under which the ECB and IMF funding has been made available and a key element of that programme is that Ireland must eliminate its public expenditure deficit. In that context, it is essential that we restore balance to our public finances as a matter of urgency. If we do not achieve this we will no longer have the capacity to continue funding our public services. Accordingly, it is vital that the gap between Government income and expenditure is closed.

When it comes to numbers in An Garda Síochána the Government is severely restricted by the actions of the previous Government. In that context it must be borne in mind that the previous Government decided, for the purposes of the EU and IMF agreement, that the strength of the Garda Síochána would be reduced from 14,500 at the end of 2010 to 13,000 by the end of 2014. This is the stark situation the Minister, Deputy Shatter, inherited.

One of the unfortunate consequences of the policies pursued by the previous Government is that a moratorium on recruitment has had to be applied to An Garda Síochána. This moratorium was in fact initiated by the previous Government in March 2009 and it will have to be continued to achieve the overall reductions in Garda numbers required. It is of course the intention of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, that Garda recruitment should recommence as quickly as possible. However, in that area the hands of the Government have been tied by the decisions taken by the previous Government.

Although it is not of our making, the Government, and indeed the general public, will inevitably be faced with the fact that the number of serving members of the Garda Síochána will be reduced. In that regard I would stress that the emphasis will be on maintaining frontline services and that where resources are required to deal with serious crime and terrorism they will continue to be made available. At this stage the Government is closely monitoring, and will continue to monitor, the pattern of Garda members leaving the force and recruitment will be restored to make sure that the strength will be maintained as far as possible.

I would also like to refer specifically to the Garda College in Templemore. I can assure the House that it is not closing or being mothballed. The college does not simply train new recruits, it also has the major function of providing continuous professional development training for existing members and civilian support staff. Existing Garda members as well as over 2,000 civilian support staff avail of the training facilities there. There are over 300 training courses in the Garda College and over 20,000 individual days of training were provided in the college in each of the last two years. Additionally, the college plays an important role in the development of a professional policing service in Ireland and it will continue to do so.

Before I conclude I wish to acknowledge the commitment and professionalism of the members of An Garda Síochána. Even though its numbers will be reduced I am confident that it will be possible for it to provide an effective policing service which will meet the needs of the people of this country. It also goes without saying that both the Government and the Minister would be very happy to initiate a new Garda recruitment campaign immediately. Unfortunately, due to the dreadful economic legacy left to this Government, and to the whole country, this is simply not possible.