The fall in the number of gardaí in this country is one of the worst legacies of the Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Independent Government. It has enormous effects throughout society. I will focus on one of the effects, which relates to road traffic accidents. Mia Lily Keogh O'Keeffe was a young 16-year-old girl going about her daily life on a Saturday in Navan in February. She was killed at a pedestrian crossing while walking her dog. When Mia Lily was born in 2009, there were 1,046 gardaí assigned to traffic policing in this State. In the year she was killed, there were 618 gardaí assigned to road traffic policing. In January, another 16-year-old girl, Grace Lynch, was killed when she was struck by a scrambler in Finglas. The Government had the power to ban scramblers since 2023, but it did not until after the death of Grace Lynch. Today, a Garda representative body claimed that gardaí are neither trained sufficiently to pursue scramblers nor do they have the legal protections to do so. Ireland has witnessed a significant increase in horrendous road deaths. All of us have been stopped in our tracks over the past few months witnessing this but there is a direct correlation between the number of gardaí policing our roads and road deaths. If the Minister is going to allow for the number to fall into the future, we will have more road deaths. Unfortunately, people's behaviours turn for the worst when they know that they are not going to be stopped or checked on the road for bad driving behaviour. It is true for crime as well. We have seen a massive spike in the number of violent and serious crimes in many parts of the country in recent times. If we look at what is happening to the Garda, it is incredible. Resignations over the past number of years have never been as high. Gardaí are voting with their feet, and they are leaving. Gardaí are being attacked on a daily basis. A parliamentary question reply that I received shows a significant number with at least one garda being physically attacked on a daily basis in this country. Garda have been on sick leave. A total of 35 gardaí were on sick leave last year due to poor mental health and ill health - 300 in total over the past six years. Garda numbers are still falling. Incredibly, in 2024, Australia recruited more gardaí net than this State. If the Government is not willing to give the proper pay, terms and conditions to gardaí working in this State, they are not going to be able to remain in office. With the spike in costs, especially fuel costs, gardaí are unable to pay to fill a tank with fuel. I am calling for the Minister to invest significantly in pay, terms and conditions to make sure we have the gardaí necessary to police the roads and streets in towns and villages throughout this country.

Sentiment score: -0.27

There are three Ministers in the Department of justice.

Sentiment score: 0.53