Deputy First Minister urged to ‘correct record’ on PSNI numbers - as justice minister rules out 50/50 recruitment
The deputy First Minister has been urged to correct the Assembly record on comments she made about an Executive commitment on increasing the number of police officers.
TUV MLA Timothy Gaston questioned Emma Little-Pengelly’s claim that the recent Programme for Government committed to 7,500 police officers – highlighting a subsequent comment by Naomi Long which contradicted that.
The Justice Minister said last week that the aim is to achieve a target of approximately 7,000 officers and 2,500 staff by the end of this Assembly mandate.
She added: “The recovery plan, however, is a five-year programme which extends beyond the end of the mandate. It is also constrained by a number of factors, including but not limited to the capacity of the Police Training College and the levels of attrition of officers”.
Mr Gaston raised the issue in the Assembly on Monday – asking the Speaker to ensure the deputy First Minister correct the Assembly record.
However, Mr Poots reminded the TUV MLA that his office did not have a “fact-checking role”.
“So people may say things which are not entirely accurate. I’m not saying that in this instance it is, or isn’t”, the Speaker said.
During justice minister’s questions, Naomi Long told MLAs that there is no current need for the reintroduction of a 50-50 recruitment policy for the PSNI.
However, Ms Long expressed concern about the low number of Catholic applications to a police recruitment drive, and said she wanted to see the force become more reflective of society. Amid ongoing concerns over low PSNI numbers, the recent recruitment campaign saw almost 5,000 applications to become student officers.
Ms Long said the proportion of Catholic applicants was less than 30%. She said: “While this is comparable to previous campaigns, I would wish to see figures more reflective of the wider community.”
SF MLA Linda Dillon asked the minister if she agreed there needed to be better representation of Catholics in the PSNI. Ms Long said the large number of people who had applied to join the force suggested that its recruitment practices were not flawed.