Vol. 559 No. 6
216 Mr. Kehoe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans for the next three years for the Garda Síochána; the number of new recruits who will be going through Templemore Garda Training College for each of the three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26894/02]
In April of this year the Government agreed to increase the approved strength of the Garda Síochána by 200 to 12,200. As the current actual strength of the force has not yet reached this figure – it now stands at approximately 11,900 – my priority is to bridge that gap by making maximum use next year of the existing capacity of the Garda Training College, bringing the strength of the force to its highest ever level. A cap on public service numbers has been put in place and, until it is removed, it will not be possible to recruit sufficient additional trainees to progress further beyond the figure of 12,200.
It is not possible to give an accurate estimation of the number of trainees that will pass through Templemore for the years 2003 to 2005 at this stage. The Deputy may be assured that I will be pressing for the maximum number of trainees to be recruited for 2003. The number of trainees in 2004 and 2005 will depend on the number of retirements in the intervening period, which cannot be predicted at this stage.
