Joe Conway (Independent)

Many people have expressed sympathy with the family and the force of An Garda Síochána with regard to the recent taking of life. Whereas Senator McCarthy mentioned that a large number of gardaí have died in the line of duty, in our own generation - since the turn of the millennium, not quite 25 years ago - 16 gardaí have died in the line of duty. Oftentimes, we can get complacent about the level of a pacific and peaceful society we live in, but those figures bear out that the challenges borne by An Garda Síochána are immense and ever fraught with danger. As a State, we talk up the Garda a lot but, unfortunately, the support is a tad hypocritical because I do not think the service gardaí give to the State is reflected in the level of remuneration paid to them. There is no more tangible way to express support for a force than to pay it properly.

As a peace commissioner in Waterford, I have fairly regular interchanges with the Garda. I talk to young members and I realise it does not take very long for the level of dissatisfaction, disaffection or loss of morale to build. Unless we value our police force, An Garda Síochána, which is now 100 years old, and unless we continue to support it in very practical ways, we will have an attrition rate among the young members. You see it happening already, and I do not think it is the way to bring a progressive police force into the next generation. In these Houses, we should all make a special plea for the Garda to be sufficiently remunerated in the light of the awful tasks it is sometimes asked to do.