The Taoiseach has pledged that security, law and order will be a priority during his second term in office.

Leo Varadkar said a meeting with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris had been one of his first engagements since becoming premier again, taking over from Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin under the terms of the coalition deal.

Mr Varadkar said he was “very keen to show our genuine support for the gardai”, adding he had been “appalled” to see recent aggression against officers.

He said he has also urged Simon Harris to give as much attention to his role as Minister for Justice as he gives to his Higher Education portfolio.

“That is not a caretaker role, I need him to give it his full attention and equal attention as he will for his other ministry and I know he will do that,” he said.

The Taoiseach said he assured the Commissioner of government support for the force during their meeting, both in terms of resources and laws.

“We did discuss garda recruitment and what he said was quite reassuring in many ways that recruitment did slow down a lot during the pandemic for obvious reasons and he’s confident that that can speed up in 2023,” he said.

“We have a budget I think for about 1,000 recruits in 2023 and that doesn’t mean 1,000 extra gardai, of course, because you have to take account for retirements, but it will mean more gardai.

“And there is a budget for increased garda staff as well so I’m very keen to assist the Minister for Justice and the Commissioner in making sure that we meet those written targets for the next year.

“That means more gardai available to keep our communities safe and strong and also the provision of garda staff frees up uniformed gardai as well.

“We’ll have the new Garda Station on O’Connell Street of course, in probably March or April of next year, and that will mean a greater more permanent presence in that part of the city which I think will be very welcome.

“We’ll also have the new legislation on the Police and Community Safety which I think is going to be incredibly important.”

Mr Varadkar also criticised aggression against gardai.

“In terms of protecting gardai, I’m very keen to have that legislation through on body-worn cameras because that can obviously help in terms of the prosecution of people who have committed crimes but also it can enhance the safety of gardai,” he said.

“I’ve been appalled to see the level of aggression and violence against members of the gardai in recent times.

“I don’t know whether it’s gotten worse or not but it’s bad and we want to do everything we can to support them.”