The Garda Commissioner again says he does not want to see the strength of the force fall below 13,000. Martin Callinan made the comments at the Association of Garda Superintendents (AGS) annual conference in Co. Kildare.
The AGS is calling for a lifting of the ban on recruitment warning that numbers are at a critically low level.
The General-Secretary of the organisation Superintendent Pat McCabe is using the event to call for recruitment to begin again as soon as possible.
He says timing is needed to train people up to join the force.
"Recruitment must be initiated again to sustain that, because...we're at a critically low level towards that 13,000 and it will take a period of time to fully train up somebody to make them a competent garda" he said.
"So I would urge that recruitment does start sooner rather than later" he added.
The Justice Minister Alan Shatter will address the delegates in Naas in Co. Kildare this evening.
However Garda Commissioner Callinan says it is up to the government to decide on when any new hiring will begin.
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