POLICE NUMBERS

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart) (14:42): A supplementary: given the minister's answer, can he confirm that SAPOL has not put a cap on recruitment which is 35 fewer than the number of sworn officers 12 months ago?

The Hon. M.F. O'BRIEN (Napier—Minister for Finance, Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety) (14:42): I can't, because we are going through the budget process at the moment, and the budget process allows for an increase in the number of police officers. So if there was a cap, the cap would no longer be in place because we have made allowance in the budget for additional recruitment.