Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is more than welcome. I will first compliment the statement made by the Minister. It was a powerful statement and she brought a lot of good information to the floor the House, which is very important. She outlined in many ways where we are going with the training programme and the recruitment process happening at the moment. She also referred to the Covid issue and how it affected the potential for training of recruits during that unusual time for our society.

I need to reflect on a few issues. Ten or 12 years ago, gangland murders were the huge issue. My brother in-law was in college in Limerick at the time and it was quite a frightening experience going there. That entire aspect of society, what happened and what our response was is something on which I compliment An Garda Síochána. We have seen a huge change in how gangland murders and gangland activity has been looked at. That is not insignificant. Limerick back in the day was, unfortunately, not a great place but it is a major change now to where it was back ten or 12 years ago. That was a really significant change for Munster.

When we consider the numbers of Garda recruits going through the college - I believe the Minister referred to a figure of nearly 800 and perhaps the Minister of State will clarify this-----