The Minister for Justice will today unveil his plans for the recruitment of 2,000 extra gardaí, which will bring the strength of An Garda Síochána to 14,000, writes Conor Lally.
The commitment was one of the main components of the Government's general election campaign more than two years ago.
However, the plan to recruit the extra gardaí was abandoned because of worsening economic conditions following the 2002 general election. The plans to be unveiled at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park this afternoon will outline the phased recruitment of the additional officers.
All of the extra 2,000 gardaí will be qualified before 2007, when the next general election will be held. Mr McDowell was given approval for his plans at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. It is understood the first batch of recruits will be taken into the Templemore Garda training college, Co Tipperary, almost immediately.
Some Garda courses will be held off the Templemore campus in other locations to free up space to cater for the larger number of trainees at the college. The trainees will undergo their studies and training exercises at Templemore but other courses and seminars for existing members of the force will be temporarily moved.
In recent weeks, Templemore has taken in a class of about 160 student gardaí. This is despite the fact that a much smaller number was needed to bring the size of the force up to 12,200 before the end of the year, which Mr McDowell pledged to do while his plans to increase it to 14,000 were on hold.
The Government has been strongly criticised by opposition parties for its failure to honour the election promise of recruiting extra gardaí.
Despite the repeated postponement of his plans, Mr McDowell continued to reiterate his determination that the number of gardaí in the State would reach 14,000 before the current Government completed its term in office.