An Garda Síochána: Motion Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13 ============================================================ Garret Kelleher (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as ucht an fhreagra iontaigh fhada a thug sé dúinn tar éis a bheith ag éisteacht leis na Seanadóirí ar fad le linn na díospóireachta. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for the comprehensive response he gave to this evening's debate in which he highlighted a number of very important issues, the progress that is being made and, as was alluded to by numerous contributors during the course of the debate, what needs to be done to ensure that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to futureproof itself as an organisation to best serve and protect our communities. The Minister of State spoke about the budget of €2.74 billion and about us being close to the highest number of gardaí in the history of this State. This is true but going to back to what the former Minister for justice, our colleague Senator McDowell, said, it was interesting to listen to his comparison between his time as Minister for justice and having a ratio of one guard to 330 people at the time versus the ratio of one guard to 378 people now. That was a theme that was repeated time and again by various contributors, and it is something that we have to be cognisant of, particularly with the growth in population and with regard to ensuring that, as was alluded to by Senators Scahill and Collins among others, we have sufficient resource in our rural areas, as well as areas of higher population growth. The Minister of State spoke about the level of trainees in 2025 being up to 800, the highest since 2018. It is very important that we continue to resource the Garda College in Templemore. Being married to a woman from Templemore, it is a town that I am very familiar with. In order for us to achieve the target levels that we all said that we aspire to, and going back to what Senator McDowell said, we need to back up the aspirations by ensuring that our targets are deliverable, and that sufficient investment goes into ensuring that it can happen. The Minister of State spoke about the importance of the sectoral investment plan which, as he said, is crucial in expanding, modernising and electrifying the Garda fleet. He also spoke about the link between the increased usage of body-worn cameras and convictions in our courts, which is a sure sign that the investment that was made in that regard is bearing fruit today. The Minister of State rightly spoke about the unacceptable levels of vitriol directed at gardaí in person and online, and this is something that was also referenced by a number of contributors to the debate. These are modern challenges, and we need to ensure that we respond to them accordingly. Senator Flynn spoke very eloquently yesterday about abuse she has received online as a public representative. These are threats that did not exist in the past prior to the advent of social media. We need to be proactive in dealing with it to ensure that it is stamped out. I am after disregarding the clock, which puts me under a bit of pressure. I will not have time to make reference to all the valuable contributions made in the debate. Suffice it to say that a number of themes came up on a number of occasions, including reference to the lives of gardaí lost in the line of duty. Senators Cathal Byrne and Duffy referred to the lives of serving Garda members lost at the hands of the provisional republican movement in their areas. The issue of resources came up time and again. There was widespread acknowledgement that morale in An Garda Síochána is at a low ebb. Many contributors made reference to the new Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, and the fact that morale has improved since his appointment. I will conclude on a point made by Senator Duffy. For us, as public representatives, and also for the public to maintain confidence in An Garda Síochána, it is very important that there are improved levels of transparency and accountability internally. As Senator Duffy alluded to, any wrongdoing within An Garda Síochána needs to be dealt with appropriately and that may well be through independent oversight internally. A number of contributors spoke about the importance of continued engagement with the Garda representative bodies, which is vital. It was widely acknowledged that the role of An Garda Síochána is a very important one. If we are to achieve the target level of Garda strength of 15,000 - Senator O'Donovan mentioned a target of 20,000 - it is vital that those who are considering it as a profession feel that it is adequately remunerated and there are sufficient incentives in place for us to be able to achieve those levels. Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí ar fad as páirt a ghlacadh sa díospóireacht. Tá mé thar a bheith sásta leis an díospóireacht ar fad. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-13