Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will make the point generally. It would be wonderful if it was possible to make available through a forum of some kind the advice and expertise of senior people who had retired from the force, especially those who had served in Border areas for a long time and were familiar with the criminal mind, having gone through so many court cases, prosecutions and so on. Society does not do well in losing all of that valuable advice. While Senator Mark Daly perhaps went a lot further, the Government is trying to recruit many more gardaí. There will be 300 recruits next year and the force is being built up all the time. As the Garda Commissioner noted yesterday, there is now a commitment to the training college at Templemore which the previous Government closed and so on. While the Government is improving matters considerably in that regard as the economy recovers, it would be wonderful if it was possible to do something to provide a forum to avail of the advice and expertise of former senior people in the force, especially in the Border regions.