Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
563. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will take into consideration the large number of applications and the fact that no recruits have been taken on for a number of years and increase the number of new Garda recruits to 1,000 in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1037/14]
View answer571. Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the optimum strength of An Garda Síochána in terms of personnel numbers; if he will provide an update on his announcement to recommence recruitment to An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1117/14]
View answer583. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of applications received to date in respect of the competition for recruitment to An Garda Síochána; the method by which assessment of the applicants will be undertaken; if all applicants will have an opportunity for assessment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1328/14]
View answer601. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when the first intake of Garda recruits will be ready for duty; and the number that will be included in that intake. [1741/14]
View answer602. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of new Garda recruits he expects to come into the force in each of the years 2015 to 2017, inclusive. [1742/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 563, 571, 583, 601 and 602 together.
I was very pleased to announce the commencement of a Garda recruitment campaign on 12 December 2013, the first such recruitment since 2009. The closing date for applications was 9 January 2014, and some 25,000 applications were received by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) through their website www.publicjobs.ie. New Garda trainees, who have successfully completed all stages of the recruitment competition, will enter the Garda College in the middle of this year. The competition itself will involve a number of stages of assessment and evaluation including online questionnaires and assessments, on-site assessments, interviews, and physical and medical examinations. The first stages will be conducted by the PAS, with candidates who qualify through these being placed in order of merit for consideration by the Garda Commissioner for assessment through physical, medical and security checks.
On entry to the Garda College, trainees will undergo the new student/probationer training programme which has been restructured into 3 phases. Phase I is for 32 weeks at the Garda College, at the end of which successful students will be attested (i.e. become members of the Garda Síochána with full police powers). Phase II is for 65 weeks, when they will be based in Garda stations with the full policing powers. Phase III then consists of 7 weeks of exam preparation, exams and assessments. My objective is to maintain current Garda strength at 13,000. Given that the closing date for applications for the competition was the 9 January we hope to have 300 recruits entering training in Templemore in 2014. I would like to say however that reports implying that there are 25,000 applicants for 300 posts are incorrect as we expect to use this competition to provide Garda recruits in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
