Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:90. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice the steps she intends to take to respond the recruitment crisis in An Garda Síochána; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33955/23]
View answerTuesday, 11 July 2023
Questions (90)
Written answers
The Government is committed to ensuring An Garda Síochána have the resources they need to deliver on their goal of ensuring communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe. As Minister I engage regularly with the Commissioner to monitor the resources needed to drive Garda recruitment.
As the Deputy will appreciate the Garda Commissioner is operationally responsible for the management of An Garda Síochána. This includes the recruitment and retention of Garda members.
The unprecedented €2 billion plus budget in 2023 is allowing for the continued recruitment of Gardaí and Garda staff and we are seeing Garda recruits enter Templemore every 11 weeks. 92 recruits entered the Training College late November, 135 in February and another 154 in May. Another class will enter the college at the end of July.
Momentum is building in recruitment after the Covid-enforced pause, when the Garda College was closed due to the public health emergency.
An Garda Síochána also recently launched a new recruitment campaign, which closed on 14 April 2023 and in combination with those who have deferred, will provide a stream of candidates for the next and future intakes.
Almost 5,000 people applied to join An Garda Síochána in this campaign. This is in line with the last pre-Covid campaign in 2019, which shows demand to join An Garda Síochána is as strong as ever.
I understand that the first interviews from this year’s competition are due to commence the week of 26 June.The next Garda recruitment competition is expected to take place later this year or early next year, which will further secure a strong pipeline of candidates.In addition, a Garda Reserve Competition is expected in the first quarter of 2024. The Reserve reinforces An Garda Síochána's essential community links, and provides capacity to draw on additional resources to assist in policing.