An Garda Síochána
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

We can agree on one thing, namely that it is heading in the right direction. It is certainly improving. The fact that we have seen the highest number of gardaí attesting in seven years is a very positive story from the point of view of the Irish public.
The Deputy is correct in stating that we ran two recruitment campaigns, in which there was huge interest, last year. We got 11,000 people expressing an interest in applying to join. We are processing those applications much faster. The fact that we got 223 new recruits into Templemore in December is a really positive story. If we can consistently get numbers like that, we will see attestations coming up to the figure of 1,000 and to more than that in the future. The reason we want to do this, as the Deputy will be aware, is because people want to see more gardaí on the streets. On a visit to Cork last week, I heard a very positive account of extra Garda visibility. The same applies in Limerick, as the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, will attest to. A huge amount of work is being done to get the numbers up. That work will continue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-19