I welcome the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, to the House for statements on the Garda Reserve.
Garda Reserve: Statements
I thank the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach and Senators for the opportunity to address the House on this matter. I thank Senator McDowell who sought this discussion. We have spoken about the issue and I am very grateful to have the opportunity to explore it.
I express my gratitude to the members of the Garda Reserve for their commitment and dedication to community safety. The time volunteered by all reservists has been of huge benefit to their communities since the Garda Reserve was founded in 2006 by the then Minister for Justice, Senator McDowell. The Garda Reserve is an important resource to support the work of An Garda Síochána in the provision of a community-based policing service and provides people with an opportunity to give something back. The success of the Garda is only possible through the dedication and commitment of its members and the Garda Reserve has further strengthened these links between our police service and our communities.
As part of the Government's plan to modernise and strengthen An Garda Síochána, A Policing Service for our Future, the Garda Commissioner developed a Garda Reserve strategy which provides a roadmap for the development of this important service. Published in October 2021, the strategy was informed by an internal review of the reserve. It sets out key commitments, including recruitment, training and development, deployment, governance and evaluation. A new recruitment campaign is a priority and I am pleased to confirm to the Seanad that a new recruitment campaign for members of the Garda Reserve will be held later this year, most likely in the month of November, and on foot of this, new members of the Garda Reserve will be appointed. The campaign will target a broad and inclusive range of candidates in keeping with the reserve's role as a visible form of community engagement. My Department is currently engaging with An Garda Síochána on revisions to the regulations governing the reserve ahead of the commencement of this recruitment process. The Garda Commissioner has established an implementation group and an oversight committee to ensure the Garda Reserve strategy delivers on its objectives.
Another aim of the strategy is to ensure that members of the Garda Reserve are fully supported by Garda management and their role is recognised and promoted throughout the organisation. This is a very important point. If we are to expand the Garda Reserve and recruit more members to it, as we are doing, it is important we make sure reserve gardaí are seen as part of the overall team in terms of community safety and that their role is valued, supported by management, and promoted and recognised throughout the organisation.
A briefing pack is being developed that will be available for all Garda personnel to increase organisational awareness of the Garda Reserve. An internal communications strategy will also be developed to support new processes and procedures as they are implemented. It is intended that reserve forums will be reintroduced to recognise the reserve's voluntary contribution and good work. I am assured that An Garda Síochána is committed to reinforcing organisational capacity to manage the Garda Reserve. During my time as Minister for Justice, I have discussed this matter directly with the Garda Commissioner a number of times. This will be done through the introduction of streamlined processes and procedures which will support the revised Garda Reserve policy document and embed the role of the Garda Reserve within the organisation.
The contribution of reserve gardaí has been marked by the Government and the Garda Commissioner in recent years. In 2016, to mark the tenth anniversary of the first attestation of Garda reserves, the Garda Commissioner introduced a certificate of appreciation for their long service. This certificate is signed by the Garda Commissioner and presented to each reserve garda after they have completed ten years of service. Last year, we marked the centenary of the formation of An Garda Síochána with a series of commemorative events across the country. Throughout the year, special items were awarded, which recognised the contribution each individual has made to lay the foundation for the success of An Garda Síochána. Members of the Garda Reserve received a special commemorative medal and certificate which served as a reminder that the work they do is hugely appreciated by me as Minister, the Commissioner and the people of Ireland.
I am assured by An Garda Síochána that consideration is being given to ensuring the Garda Reserve can also serve as a pathway to future recruitment competitions for Garda members. This in an interesting idea. It is not that someone would have to go from being a Garda reservist to being a member of An Garda Síochána but that if an individual in the Garda reserve would like to become a fully sworn member of An Garda Síochána and has a desire to progress to that position, there would be a clear pathway in place. This pathway would further strengthen An Garda Síochána and perhaps provide a further incentive for people who have a desire to help in their local community.
Each of these are vital steps towards our goal of building stronger, safer communities. As we move towards next year, when we will establish a community safety partnership in each local authority area, this is a recognition by the Government that An Garda Síochána has a major role to play in keeping communities safe but so too do lots of other organisations and the community at large. That further strengthens and reinforces the need for a Garda Reserve and the role reserve gardaí can play in their communities.
I thank Seanad Éireann and members of the House for the opportunity to speak on this topic. I express sincere thanks to members of the Garda Reserve for volunteering their time for the benefit of communities across the country. They provide a quality service, support proactive policing and represent a partnership between An Garda Síochána and the many communities they serves. This deep connection to communities and a commitment to service are embedded in the culture of An Garda Síochána, which is something gardaí should be immensely proud of.
While it is unfortunate that Garda Reserve numbers have dropped in recent years, this is a result of a number of factors, including the understandable desire to prioritise Garda recruitment again after both the financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. The Garda Commissioner has implemented a strategic plan to now see the Garda Reserve utilised to its full potential. The upcoming recruitment campaign will provide an opportunity to strengthen the workforce, strengthen the Garda Reserve and help bring the total workforce closer to its target.
I am delighted to see a strong response to Garda recruitment, with more than 400 trainee members of An Garda Síochána either in Templemore or signed up to go to Templemore this year. There will be a return to greater numbers of gardaí going into Templemore than retiring or resigning from the force this year. By the end of the year, we will be back to a period of growth in An Garda Síochána and back to annual recruitment campaigns. In the most recent recruitment campaign, nearly 5,000 people said that they wanted to be a member of An Garda Síochána. To be crystal clear, from the point of view of the Government, the Department and the Garda Commissioner, with the new recruitment campaign, the Garda Reserve will play a very important role in the overall policing picture in Ireland.
Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh Ghníomhaigh agus cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I echo what the Minister said about recognising the contribution members of the Garda Reserve make. As a society, we can be very proud that there are so many individuals who are willing to do work that is unpaid and monetarily unrewarded, albeit that it comes with its own reward. Those people who step up, volunteer, put themselves forward for the Garda Reserve and are willing to walk a beat, lend a hand or be an extension of the long arm of the law, if I can put it in those terms, need to be recognised. The Minister mentioned some of the ways they can be recognised. I have heard both sides of that coin. Some reserve gardaí feel they are not particularly respected by full-time members of An Garda Síochána. I have also heard of some who had a tremendously positive experience of the work they have done. By the same token, and on the other side of the coin, some members of An Garda Síochána place great stock in the assistance members of the Garda Reserve provide to them.
Others perhaps doubt the efficiency or efficacy of the Garda Reserve. Whatever the case, I welcome what the Minister said about the fact the Garda Reserve forms a part of the Government strategy to improve policing in this country.
As the Minister said, this debate has been called for by Senator McDowell on a number of occasions. I also acknowledge the role he played in the establishment of the Garda Reserve. Whether a person is a serving member of An Garda Síochána, a member of the Garda Reserve, a prospective member of the Garda Reserve or an ordinary citizen like most of us, we must be able to recognise the added value the Garda Reserve can bring. I am not 100% sure it has brought that or has been allowed to bring that so far.
Numbers started out when the reserve was originally set up in 2006 at in excess of 1,000 or 1,200 and have gone down quite substantially to maybe one quarter of that. I welcome what the Minister said about a recruitment campaign to go into that. I also welcome and acknowledge what the Government has done in terms of funding and supporting An Garda Síochána and the €2.14 billion budget allocation for An Garda Síochána this year, which is a tremendously important commitment to policing in Ireland and consistent with the policy objectives of the Government in terms of improving policing. Of course, nearly €1.4 million of that is for the Garda Reserve.
We must also recognise how the Garda Reserve can be of assistance. Another programme was included in the budget. Without going into great detail about the expansion of An Garda Síochána, I welcome the commitment to increase Garda numbers. I have said on a number of occasions that we cannot have a garda on every street corner or everywhere we go. In fact, we do not want that either because that amounts to a police state and that is not where we want to go. However, we do need to have a critical mass of members of An Garda Síochána to make sure policing is effective at present. We need to do that as much so that people do not have the experience of calling the Garda and then waiting for a prolonged period for a member to actually turn up. This is one of the ways in which we can expand the reach of An Garda Síochána. The other factor for this year that was mentioned specifically in the budget last year was the civilianisation of certain functions within An Garda Síochána and the provision of 400 extra civilian staff who can do some of the administrative duties that come with being a member of An Garda Síochána.
The reality is that we as a State and Government invest enormously in the training and expertise of members of An Garda Síochána, such as their training in Templemore and with other agencies, including international agencies, so that they are experts in their field and can deliver the service we all hope and expect from them on the ground. It is wasteful to spend all that time and money training those people and then have them sitting behind desks in a Garda station, wherever that might be. The reality is there is a role for those civilians to be at that desk to carry out the administrative functions. I know from my own professional work with gardaí in the criminal courts the amount of time that is spent by uniformed members, if I can put it that way, dealing with the administration of going to court or filling out documents and statements, etc., in preparation for court. All of that is work that can be helped and improved by civilians.
By the same token, the reach of the garda on the beat can be expanded by having a Garda reservist with him or her. Therefore, instead of having two fully trained, experienced gardaí on the beat, have one and have a Garda reservist assisting and being with him or her. This increases the visibility, which is almost half the battle in policing. We know crime is reduced when there are more gardaí on the beat. We know that is the case because, notwithstanding all the talk about the importance of disincentivising crime, the reality is that if people think there is a Garda presence or that they will be apprehended and caught involved in criminal activity, they are much less likely to engage in it. It is a function of human nature that if we think we are going to get caught, we will not do something wrong. That is the primary principle underlying the increased visibility of policing. We see it on roads. Everybody who drives, whether they are speeding or not, slows down when they see the Garda car. That is the impact of that kind of visible policing. The same is true in areas where there is antisocial behaviour and in which there are increased burglaries. I also recognise that burglaries have fallen in the past year. When there are gardaí on the street, however, it is positively reflected in the crime statistics for that area. One of the key functions members of the Garda Reserve can have is to expand that remit of An Garda Síochána to allow its members to be in more places than their numbers allow, particularly at peak times or at large events that require particular policing. We could match a Garda reservist with a full-time, fully attested uniformed garda and in that way expand hugely the reach of An Garda Síochána. I agree with what the Minister said, however. There is huge scope here although we need to work on it. I welcome the recruitment campaign the Minister mentioned, which I hope will expand the functions of those who are willing to volunteer.
I welcome the Minister. I have been pressing for this debate for some time and I want to say a few things. When the Garda Reserve was originally canvassed in Dáil Éireann, it received all-party support. The one group that was opposed to it at the time was the Garda Representative Association, GRA. One of its officers said he would be waiting in the long grass for me as a result of establishing it, words that I think were unfortunate at the time. Unfortunately, many members of the reserve found there were people waiting in the long grass for them in An Garda Síochána, and their experiences have been mixed to say the very least. As Senator Ward said, some of them had good experiences because responsible and decent officers encouraged and made use of them. Others were marginalised or left alone and almost sent to Coventry in stations and made to feel their presence was completely unwanted and that they were never going to be used.
The consequences were that in 2009, there were 478 members. It grew in 2014 to more than 1,100 members. From 2015 onwards, there has been a steady decline from 900 to 600, 500, 520, 458, 407, 425 and now we are at approximately 380 members. The reason is that since 2015, there has been no recruitment whatsoever. The Commissioner, who I have great time for, published a strategy document two years ago in 2021. With the greatest will in the world, and the best goodwill towards him particularly, it is waffle. There is not mention of a single figure of how many gardaí are proposed to be recruited. I understand the Government has now stated that 2,000 is now its target figure. It is extraordinary that when it was at 1,200, it was allowed to go down to 300.
I want to say one other thing to the Minister. He is only here for a short period and I welcome his initiative in coming here today to deal with this issue. However, this is a period in which volunteerism in Ireland generally has collapsed. It is not just a matter of retained firemen not being properly dealt with in rural areas. It is far broader than that. The Reserve Defence Force is now critically endangered. The number of people who actually turn up for training every year is a tiny fraction of what its strength should be.
An Fórsa Cosanta Áitiúil, FCA, which was in place at one time, was spread across Ireland. A person could go to his or her local FCA depot and train. A mistake was made in my view and we now have a situation where the number of people who can actually handle a weapon for the Irish State in the event of an emergency has dwindled to practically nothing outside of the Permanent Defence Force, which itself is suffering a crisis of recruitment and retention. The same applies to the Civil Defence. I was in this Chamber recently when a Civil Defence Bill was put before us. In 2015, the website for the Civil Defence stated there were 4,500 people in it. I note it issued another strategy document along the lines of this document and said at that stage, which was approximately two years ago, it had 3,500 members. Therefore, 1,000 had gone. The Minister when introducing the Bill in this House in the past fortnight had to confess that the number of Civil Defence volunteers is now less than 2,500. Right across the board in Ireland, those who have volunteered to assist the Irish State in their spare time have found the situation unrewarding. That is all I can say. Their dwindling numbers reflect a sad pattern of neglect of volunteerism right across the security services.
I also want to say one thing about the Garda Reserve. It is no threat to the living standards or conditions of work, pay or anything else of any full-time member of An Garda Síochána, and those who think that are deluding themselves.
One thing about the transformation in policing in Ireland that has become clear over the last century is that An Garda Síochána is losing its local roots. You can be in a rural town and gardaí can be patrolling at night in a squad car from 30 miles away. They do not know anybody in the town and very few people in the town know them. That is the sad fact at this stage. The presence of Garda reservists right across the country, and I am not just talking about rural areas but the suburbs of Dublin, whether Tallaght, Donnybrook or wherever it has to be, gives An Garda Síochána some presence locally. If it is done properly, it gives the Garda some capacity to know what is happening in the ground in communities, other than when gardaí are at the wrong end of an incident or a reported crime.
I thank the Minister for coming to the House. My time is limited but I want to say that the pattern of neglect is so obvious, the mistreatment of so many reservists has been so painful to them and the failure to recruit over the last seven years has been so inexplicable that we must now deliver on this promise to get numbers in the Garda Reserve up to 2,000. It has to be done smartly. It will require somebody in the Phoenix Park being given the sole job of ensuring the reserve operates and reservists are treated properly and making a success of what could be a hugely important aspect of policing in Ireland.
I welcome the Minister back to the House. I thank him again for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit County Monaghan last Monday to lend his support to the crew that is digging for the remains of young Columba McVeigh. The McVeigh family were also present last Monday as they continue on their heart-breaking journey to try to locate the remains of their beloved Columba. It was difficult to reconcile the beauty of the day, with the sun shining high in the sky, and the beauty of Bragan Mountain with the activity taking place as people dug for the remains of a 19-year-old who was brutally murdered back in 1974. I use this opportunity to again appeal, as the Minister did last Monday, to anyone who has any information whatsoever, however insignificant they may feel it is, to please come forward in the knowledge that information given will not go anywhere else and there is no risk of any prosecution resulting therefrom, so that the McVeigh family's nightmare will finally come to an end and they have the opportunity to lay the remains of young Columba with those of his parents. It was his mother's dying wish that the family would strive as long as they were alive to ensure the remains are found. Please God, that will be the outcome. We hope the current search will be successful and the McVeigh family will have their wish. As the Minister said last Monday, it is very rare that people would look forward to a wake or a funeral but as one of Columba's sisters said on Monday, that is exactly what they are looking forward to. I wish them well and I personally thank the Minister in that regard.
To address the matter before us, I pay tribute to my colleague, Senator McDowell, who was the brains behind this initiative a number of years ago. It certainly had merit then and one would argue that it has even more merit today. From a Fianna Fáil point of view, we are strongly in favour of the Garda Reserve. Like others, we believe it has serious potential. It is disappointing the reserve has not been the success Senator McDowell, as the then Minister, hoped it would be. Unfortunately, as the Senator outlined, the figures speak for themselves. In 2014, there were 1,143 reservists, with 54 people in training. Seven years on, in 2021, that figure had tumbled to 372 members. Clearly, there is a serious problem and some Members have already outlined what they believe it to be.
I welcome that a recruitment campaign will get under way in the third quarter of the year, which is now only a number of months away. It is important that we take this opportunity to reflect on what exactly has gone on wrong with the Garda Reserve. I wonder if such an audit has taken place under a couple of headings. It should try to explain why numbers have plummeted and whether the Garda Reserve has been value for money. The figures clearly indicate that we have a serious problem.
Another question springs to my mind. I understand from inquiries I made in anticipation of this debate that the majority of people who signed up for the Garda Reserve were in full-time employment. Perhaps Senator McDowell will be able to clarify that. Questions have been asked about whether the working time directive covers someone who wants to volunteer to be a reserve garda. I would certainly welcome the Minister's comments on that.
As Senator Ward outlined, the whole concept is crime prevention. The more gardaí we have on the streets, the better. If we can supplement the number of gardaí with reserve gardaí, it will be a win-win for everybody. We are deeply indebted to those who volunteer for this role and freely give their time for the benefit of the State and the safety of the individuals who live in it.
I very much welcome this debate. I thank Senator McDowell who has voiced concerns about the Garda Reserve numerous times in this Chamber. Before we go headlong into a recruitment campaign, we need to press the pause button for a second to make sure there is a full review of the history of the Garda Reserve, from its inception to the present day, to find out where the problems are and why the numbers have plummeted to the degree they have. From gardaí I have spoken to, the reserve is certainly bedding in well. There are pluses but we need to ensure that when we look for additional people to join by way of a recruitment campaign at the end of year we know where it has fallen down to date.
Before I call Senator Boylan, I welcome Deputies Cannon and Berry and their guests to the Gallery. I hope they enjoy their afternoon here.
I am speaking on behalf of Senator Ó Donnghaile. Although we have heard statements on the need to recruit to the Garda Reserve, the focus of Sinn Féin's comments will be the recruitment to the full-time An Garda Síochána. That is in no way to relegate the reserve element of An Garda Síochána. However, the policing operation that is required to deal with the multifaceted threat by criminals to the people of this State is to be found in the operational capability of the full-time police.
The numbers of full-time gardaí are of serious concern. It is my view that the Government does not have a considered plan to increase the numbers in the full-time force. We need a well-trained and professional policing service to protect people. The report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland was very clear on the issue that recruitment to the reserve must be paused until a strategic review has been carried out. Sinn Féin supports this view. There are many pressures on the resources of An Garda Síochána, not least of which are the duties arising from its administration responsibilities, which are essential for the police to perform to ensure it is providing a first-class and effective service based on integrity and accountability. These pressures have grown as society has changed and the criminal threat has changed. Resources are required to ensure the administration is operating at its maximum potential. The administration, in my view, must have the first call on available resources. It is not advisable for administrative duties to be carried out by reservists because they would be removed from other important areas of work.
The report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland also stated that the reserve would only work if they were valued by the full-time policing service and reservists were committed to their role. Given the increase in work hours, precarious employment and the current cost-of-living crisis, it is unclear how we can expect to recruit large numbers of people with the time and commitment to these roles. The commission also mentioned other ways of engaging the public in policing work. These should also be explored.
A few weeks ago, Deputy Pa Daly, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on justice, spoke about the recruitment and retention crisis that must be addressed.
His comments followed the release of figures by the Garda Representative Association which showed that An Garda Síochána failed to reach its target in the latest recruitment drive. This is the second occasion in as many months that Garda recruitment numbers were not met. There is concern that the police service is understaffed and this should have consequences for the protection and safety of the people who need the service of the Garda. It is important that the Government respond to these concerns and ensure that its policies are not contributing to a climate of uncertainty about the effectiveness of An Garda Síochána in carrying out its duties.
I welcome the Minister of State. The Garda Reserve was launched by Senator McDowell, the then Minister, with a view to bolstering policing in the Republic. The intention, we were told at the time, was that unpaid reservists could aid full-time Garda members in carrying out their duties and, in some cases, free them up from the most basic of tasks, thus helping to boost front-line policing.
Like other Senators, I acknowledge that Senator McDowell has raised this very important matter on a number of occasions in this House. The concept of a police reserve has worked well in other countries, for example, in the context of aiding policing at major events, but it has been confirmed today that the numbers have fallen below 400 and that recruitment, confirmed by the Minister will not open until the end of this year.
It has already been stated that visibility has always been one of the key principles of policing anywhere in the world. Like other Senators, I am regularly told by many people that we need gardaí back on the streets and walking around in our communities. The Garda Reserve could have a crucial role to play in providing visibility.
We have an excellent community garda in my area of Kildare. Our local community garda, Sean O'Mahoney, is part of every community event in the area offering advice and support and bringing the Garda to the community in the way that the people I mentioned previously want to see gardaí in their communities. Unfortunately, for all of us in the area in which I live, there is only one Garda O'Mahoney. As previous speakers indicated, that is why we need to do more about recruitment and retention of the Garda Reserve.
Members of the Garda Reserve could assist community gardaí and offer further links from our communities to Garda services. They could be the ones walking our streets providing the visibility that so many people are seeking. They could be the ones our community gardaí with community events and expanding the social offerings in all of our communities. Having somebody at a community meeting who can give the security advice and link in with traffic police and Civil Defence is crucial in promoting our communities and ensuring that we have integration and social cohesion in all of them.
Other Senators used the opportunity - it would be remiss of me not to do so as well - to again put out a call for additional gardaí in the areas in which they live. I live in south Kildare, and I echo that call for the reasons I have already mentioned and for a number of others. According to the recent census, the population of Kildare is 247,774. We are now part of the Laois-Offaly area, the population of which is 175,027, or some 72,000 less than Kildare, yet Kildare still has one of the lowest Garda numbers per head of population in the country. It is time to redistribute the gardaí we have to reflect the growth in County Kildare's population.
From the reply to a parliamentary question tabled by my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Sherlock, we learned that only one probationary garda had been allocated to Athy Garda station in eight years. This may have something to do with the definition of a training station, but it needs to change. In total, Kildare received 177 out of a national total of 4,029, of which the Athy station, as I have already mentioned, received one. The fourth largest county by population in Ireland is receiving less than 5% of the probationary gardaí in this country. The Minister of State will tell me in that this is a matter for the Garda Commissioner but I ask the Minister of State to raise it with him again as a matter of urgency.
The Acting Chairperson, Senator Keogan, will understand why somebody from County Kildare would welcome more Garda reservists. The gardaí we have, as I have always said in this House, do a magnificent job. As I have also always said, they are stretched beyond their limits. Something needs to change in my county as a matter of urgency in order to reflect the increase in population there. The Garda Reserve should play a part in that. Recruitment and retention are part of that. As has already been said, this is an issue that we also have with the Defence Forces. We cannot allow it to obstruct the growth in Garda Reserve numbers.
I support the call that before we start recruitment, we need to know why the Garda Reserve has reduced from a 1,500 or 2,000 high to less than 400 before we start asking people to join again. The collapse in volunteerism mentioned by Senator McDowell is a problem that I and the Minister of State come across every day in our communities. We cannot let that be the obstacle to the appointment of Garda reservists. What we need and what we all are calling for is more gardaí on the beat. The Garda reservists gave a role to play in that. That is an issue that the Government should take on. Recruitment should happen as quickly as possible, but we also need to know why the numbers have dropped so drastically from the high in 2015 to where we are today.
The Labour Party supports the call, welcomes the debate and supports the Garda in everything it does in the community, but there is a need for more community-based gardaí. There is also a need for reservists to support those community gardaí on the beat once again.
I very much appreciate the Acting Chairperson, Senator Keogan, allowing me to contribute. I thank the Minister, Deputy Harris, who was here earlier, for his contribution. I welcome the Minister of State.
I welcome these statements. As the Minister pointed out, the strategy in this regard is around the key commitments of recruitment, training and development, deployment, governance and evaluation. As has been mentioned by colleagues, recruitment is the key.
I really appreciate the highlighting of the diversity of the members of the Garda Reserve. That will be crucial when it comes to policing our communities. That would be a great way to have more new communities involved and part of An Garda Síochána.
I will highlight the challenges around recruitment that have been spoken about. There definitely has to be a better bank of knowledge in understanding why it is difficult to recruit people. Obviously, we have the highest ever number of people working in Ireland at present. Our population is increasing. People are busier and, of course, the time that can be given to voluntary-type activities has reduced. I am looking at the numbers relating to recruitment to An Garda Síochána and the importance of ensuring that we have a good, strong recruitment campaign, particularly in respect of young people in the secondary schools in the context of career guidance and, perhaps, transition year. Is there more that we can do in linking in with our educational system to promote the opportunities for young people, the long-term careers for people who serve in An Garda Síochána and the career paths that are available? People may have a stereotypical view of a garda, but there are so many different activities that gardaí are involved in, particularly in the context of how they engage with communities and how they are such a strong part of those communities. I very much support the idea of the deployment of the Garda Reserve.
Another challenge we are seeing, particularly with An Garda Síochána, relates to the difficulty caused by the low numbers of gardaí being able to transfer from one section to another. That is causing difficulty for Garda barracks across the country in being able to get staff, particularly with the new model, etc. That is one of those other areas that we need to look at so that we can support transfers where possible, but also that we need higher recruitment numbers.
I do not know if the Minister of State would like to comment on the communication policy of An Garda Síochána and the type of communication that is being used with regard to the recruitment process. Would the Minister of State have any ideas on how that can be improved or what other social media tools can we use to promote it? During the lockdown, the Minister might remember that gardaí across the country were filmed singing and dancing to a particular song. That helped to showcase our beautiful country. For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of the song. I only remember that it made people smile at a time of extreme difficulty and see that there is a great sense of community within the Garda as well. That is something of value.
Like a lot of occupations, being a garda is a vocation. We really need to value it as such. The Minister spoke of medals for people in the Garda Reserve. That recognition is so important.
I welcome Coachford school in Cork this afternoon. They are all very welcome. I hope they have a lovely day visiting Leinster House.
I thank the Chair and Senators for the opportunity to speak on this topic. Once again, I would like to express sincere thanks to the members of the Garda Reserve for volunteering their time for the benefit of communities right across the country. They provide a quality service, support proactive policing and represent a partnership between An Garda Síochána and the many communities it serves. This deep connection to communities and a commitment to service is embedded in the culture of An Garda Síochána, and it is something to be immensely proud of.
While it is unfortunate that Garda Reserve numbers have dropped in recent years, this is a result of a number of factors, including the understandable decision to prioritise the recruitment of Garda members. The Garda Commissioner has implemented a strategic plan to see the Garda Reserve utilised to its full potential. The upcoming recruitment campaign will provide an opportunity to strengthen the Garda Reserve and help bring the total workforce closer to its target.
As Senators can appreciate, the management of Garda resources, including recruitment, training and deployment of Garda members and the Garda Reserve is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner. My Department has been engaging with An Garda Síochána in advance of the launch of this recruitment campaign and will continue to do so in coming months. It is also hugely important that there is real diversity in the Garda Reserve in order that it better reflects the communities it represents. It is essential that this diversity is seen, and the recruitment campaign will target a broad and inclusive range of candidates. The development and strengthening of the Garda Reserve is part of the wider strategy to ensure that communities are safe and feel safe. At the heart of this is a strong Garda Síochána, and the Government is fully committed to providing it with the resources needed to deliver on its objective of keeping people safe. This has been reflected in the unprecedented allocation of more than €2 billion in budget 2023.
For the past 100 years, An Garda Síochána has formed bonds with the communities it serves. This emphasis on community policing is nowhere better reflected that in the Garda Reserve. That connection with the community is something to treasure and should not be taken for granted. I was delighted to see such a strong response to the most recent Garda recruitment campaign, which is a testament to the enduring popularity of a career with An Garda Síochána. I am confident the personal motivation displayed by so many to give back to their community and others will have a favourable on the response to the next Garda Reserve campaign.
The statements are concluded. I ask the Acting Leader to move the suspension of the House until 4 p.m. Is that agreed?
Not agreed. I want to say one thing. We have had two Ministers in the House today. Not one number has been mentioned to us in the context of how many people it is intended to recruit to the Garda Reserve. That is a shame. I am not agreeable to the adjournment.
Would the Senator like to speak further on the statements?
Under the rules of the House, I do not think I am entitled to. However, I think it is amazing that I have been campaigning here for two years and not one figure, not even one target, has been mentioned in the course of the afternoon. That is a real shame. I withdraw my objection to the adjournment.
I thank the Senator because I would not know what to do if he had not done so.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 3.13 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 4 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 3.13 p.m. and resumed at 4 p.m.