Minister McEntee addresses new Garda recruits at Garda Attestation Ceremony

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Deputy Commissioners,

Distinguished guests,

And most importantly, the new Gardaí and your families.

It’s a great pleasure to be with you here today.

I feel honoured to share in what is such a monumental day in your careers and in your lives.

Seeing you all here in your uniforms is a very proud moment for you, for your family and loved ones.

You are embarking on a career where your day-to-day work impact upon the public good.

You will become trusted figures in communities all over Ireland.

You will be the faces people turn to when they find themselves in situations of emergency.

You will be the ones who people turn to in times of concern, and when they are at their most vulnerable.

You will be the uniformed and reassuring presence that allows people in all communities to go about their daily lives in peace and comfort.

I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank every one of you for the commitment you are making today to carry out the mission of An Garda Síochána of Keeping People Safe.

I promise you the full support of Government as you take on this crucial work.

I’d also like to acknowledge your families, and the support they give you.

One of the things I find so special about graduation days here in Templemore is the pride and the shared sense of achievement of the families.

Not only are your loved ones becoming Gardaí today, but you are becoming Garda families too.

Some of you may be Garda families of old, and come from a long line of service in An Garda Síochána.

Some of you may just becoming Garda families for the first time.

You will provide essential support for your loved ones.

You will be the ones watching them go out the door to work, knowing the risks they may be exposed to each day.

As Minister for Justice, I will not only always support our Gardaí, but I will always support Garda families.

As part of that support, it is my first and top priority to ensure An Garda Síochána has the strength it needs to operate safely and successfully.

After a COVID enforced pause, I am pleased to say that recruitment is gathering pace, with bigger intakes every 11 weeks.

87 of you are graduating today; 135 recruits entered the college in February, 154 in May and almost 180 will enter here in Templemore on Monday.

In addition, 24 Gardaí graduated in January.

This means that, by next week, over 100 new Gardaí will have graduated so far this year; another 470 will be in active training – and two more classes are due into Templemore in October and December.

If this momentum is maintained, we will be on track to have between 700 and 800 new recruits into the college in 2023.

I was encouraged to see the high level of interest in this year’s recruitment campaign, with just under five thousand people applying.

As the campaign said, it is a challenging job but it is job worth doing.

It is also a job to be very proud of.

The support we can give you is not just about numbers, even though having the strongest possible Garda force we can is hugely important.

It is about giving An Garda Síochána the tools and technology you need to tackle crime, build stronger, safer communities and keep yourselves safe.

Before the Dáil rose for the summer, one of the laws I passed, and which the President signed just last week, was to increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a Garda from 7 years to 12.

This is to send out a clear and unambiguous message that there must be respect for you – our men and women in uniform.

We want you to know that we stand fully behind you in the job you do.

I know that the decision to embark on a career in policing must be a very considered one.

I’m sure most of you will have sat down with family or friends and thought hard about the job you were going for.

With any job there are considerations around family, finances, work-life balance, career progression, and much more.

Many of you will have considered the safety aspect of becoming a Garda.

I want to assure you that I am committed to doing everything in my power to ensure Gardaí have every tool and support necessary to carry out this incredibly important job safely.

When the Dáil returns in September, my top priority will be passing legislation to allow members of An Garda Síochána wear bodycams.

This is not only for your own protection, but to ensure you are equipped with the best tools to keep people safe and fight crime.

Once this is passed, it is our intention that the rollout of bodycams will begin early next year.

I am also drafting legislation which will provide that facial recognition technology can be used by the Gardaí to tackle some of the most heinous crimes, including murder, assault causing serious crime, robbery and burglary.

We can’t have an analogue Gardaí in a digital age.

We are also beginning preparations for the upcoming Budget, and I have already begun discussions within my department on preparing a package to support An Garda Síochána.

As well as continuing recruitment, I want to ensure that we are doing all we can to support frontline Gardaí in their difficult and challenging work.

That’s why I believe you must have all the supports or programmes you need to help you with the difficulties that come with a job as demanding as policing.

You are joining An Garda Síochána at an incredibly important time.

This is a period of change and while I accept that change can at times be challenging for us, it also presents us all with great opportunities.

Change to deliver a modern Police Service best equipped to ensure the safety of all of our communities.

As you know, criminal methods are modernising at incredible speed and areas like cybercrime and organised crime are becoming more and more sophisticated.

An Garda Síochána has been quick to respond to these developments in an agile and effective way.

For our part, the government has responded to calls for transforming the Garda Síochána into a modern, efficient and effective police service through the development and delivery of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.

This landmark Bill provides for the most wide ranging and coherent reform of policing in a generation.

It will do this by improving the performance of our police service to the benefit of the safety of communities.

At the centre of this policy is an acknowledgement that community safety is not just the responsibility of An Garda Síochána alone.

Nobody knows better than you that the issues and problems you will face can only be solved by services and communities working together.

That could be ensuring there are proper educational supports to give young people a real chance; diversion programmes to help steer people away from offending behaviours; improving the built environment in a particular area; or providing more lighting to improve safety.

Of course, policing has a vital part in building stronger, safer communities – but it is only one part.

Our new Community Safety Partnerships will bring you in An Garda Síochána together with the local community, with services like education and Tusla and others.

They will draw up plans on how to make their own communities safer, because nobody knows better than the people on the ground locally how improvements can be made.

We have piloted these partnerships in three areas ahead of their national rollout next year – in Longford, Dublin’s north inner city and Waterford.

In the coming weeks, I will be launching the Community Safety Plan for the north inner city and I am looking forward to seeing how it will improve community safety.

The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill it will provide new national security arrangements. The Bill and, along with the legislation to support the rollout of bodycams and establish our new agency to tackle domestic violence, is one of my top three priorities for the autumn Dáil session.

It has already made significant progress through the Oireachtas, and I was struck during the Dáil debates by the high esteem for An Garda Síochána.

TDs and senators recognised that improving community safety requires a multi-sectoral approach, strong inter-agency collaboration and engagement from the community.

Our aim is to deliver a new approach to policing and community safety, increasing police visibility in communities and focusing on preventing crime and harm.

We want to deliver a professional, ethical, modern and effective police and security service that is well-managed, cost-effective, properly trained and equipped, and is clearly accountable.

Through your day-to-day work, you will all be building on a long and proud tradition of delivering an effective community policing service, responsive to the needs of our modern and diverse communities.

Another key part of the vision for more effective, community-focused policing is the new Operating Model.

Pilots are already underway, as I’m sure you’re aware, and there is impressive work being done in every district to prepare for the nationwide rollout.

Bringing about change is not an easy task, and I understand that, as with any change, it can be challenging.

I have spoken to frontline Gardaí on how they are dealing with the new model, and we must of course listen and take on board their views.

What is clear is that more resources – more Gardaí on the beat, like you and the additional classes to come this year – will be a huge boost to rolling out the new model.

Because at the core of the new model is having more front-line Gardaí backed up by more specialist services, increased Garda visibility, and a wider range of policing services for people in their local areas.

This is all done with a view to enhancing supports for citizens and also for you and your fellow Garda members.

One strand of this work is the introduction of bodyworn cameras.

Finally, I want to congratulate each and every one of you and your families.

You have achieved so much to be here today, successfully completing your training and education to prepare you for becoming Gardaí I know your families and friends.

You will meet challenges along the way.

But your training here in Templemore will stand you in good stead to meet whatever lies ahead.

It will help you navigate through good times and hard times – so remember to draw on the valuable lessons you have learned here.

I also want to say that turning to colleagues for advice, and being a shoulder for them in return, cannot be underestimated.

I know the bonds forged here in your class will last through your careers; the friendships you have built here in Templemore will sustain you through your services.

I also wish the Garda families and friends – new and old – here today will well as you support our newest members in the years ahead.

I will always have your interests at heart.

I wish you every success in your careers and I thank you on behalf of the Irish people for your commitment.

Thank you.