Results 1-20 of 1,112,598 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:George Lee OR speaker:Roderic O'Gorman OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Colm Burke OR speaker:Peadar Tóibín OR speaker:Mary Lou McDonald OR speaker:Jim O'Callaghan OR speaker:Paul Donnelly OR speaker:Patricia Ryan OR speaker:Michael Healy-Rae OR speaker:Michael Ring OR speaker:Paul Murphy OR speaker:Matt Carthy OR speaker:Seán Haughey OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Sorca Clarke OR speaker:Rose Conway-Walsh OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Martin Browne OR speaker:Dara Calleary OR speaker:Colm Brophy OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Helen McEntee OR speaker:Jennifer Murnane O'Connor OR speaker:Carol Nolan OR speaker:Brian Stanley OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Denise Mitchell OR speaker:Michael Lowry OR speaker:Richard Bruton OR speaker:Brian Leddin OR speaker:Ruairi Ó Murchú OR speaker:Willie O'Dea) in 'Committee meetings'

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: Apologies have been received from Deputies Niamh Smyth and Alan Farrell. This meeting has been convened to consider Supplementary Estimates for Vote 20 - Garda Síochána, Vote 21 - Prisons, Vote 22 - Courts Service and Vote 24 - Justice. The Supplementary Estimates were referred on 15 October 2024. Under Standing Orders, the role of the committee is to consider the...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: Good afternoon, Chair. I thank members for making time to consider these Supplementary Estimates. I am joined from the Department by Ms Yvonne Furey, assistant secretary, Ms Niamh Merrigan, assistant principal, and Mr. Aonghus O'Connor, principal officer. On Vote 20, budget 2024 reflects the commitment of the Government to ensuring our communities are safe and that An Garda...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank the Minister. We will give consideration to Vote 20 first, which concerns An Garda Síochána. Do Members have any questions?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: It is due to a recruitment competition. It is a matter of going through the process working with the Public Appointments Service. It is likely it will be next year before we have some of our first new recruits. The competition resulted in 1,800 people applying to become members of the Garda Reserve. We are still going through that recruitment process with the 1,800 applicants.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: No one has been recruited yet. It was hoped that it would happen by the end of the year, but it will most likely be early next year.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: I will have to come back to the Deputy with the exact figure in Dublin. I do not have that currently. We have set a target of having an additional 2,000 members of the Garda Reserve by 2026.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: I am happy that the reserve competition was opened for the first time in approximately seven years. I am satisfied there was significant interest in the competition. Obviously, I want to see our newer members come through as quickly as possible.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: The competition is ongoing. While I would have liked to have seen it completed by the end of the year, the process is progressing well. I hope to see new Garda Reserve recruits fully through the system by early next year and out on the beat supporting our gardaí.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: To answer the initial question about the reason for the underspend this year, we had funded for the higher end of that target. There were 746 trainees last year. Obviously, we do not have the full and final number for this year. While I appreciate we have not reached the higher end of our target, a number of things have been done to ensure we can increase Garda numbers, not just this year...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: Yes. While I would like it to be higher, I am happy that last year we had six times more people than we had in the previous year. Obviously, we want that to continue.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Estimates for Public Services 2024
Vote 20 - Garda Síochána (Supplementary)
Vote 21 - Prisons (Supplementary)
Vote 22 - Courts Service (Supplementary)
Vote 24 - Justice (Supplementary) (17 Oct 2024)

Helen McEntee: Yes, six times more compared with the previous year in which we started recruitment post-Covid. We are now essentially back to where we were pre-Covid. We need to go higher. We need to hire 1,000 Gardaí per year to be able to respond to and deal with the challenges we have with retention and retirements. While we do not have the final figures for resignations or retirements this...