Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 May 2021
345. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice her plans to increase the recruitment of members of An Garda Síochána from diverse ethnic backgrounds including Traveller, Roma, black Irish; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27371/21]
View answerThe Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, contains a commitment to increase the diversity within An Garda Síochána prioritising the identification and removal of barriers to recruiting and retaining people from diverse and minority background. This work is being taken forward as part of An Garda Síochána's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy. As the Deputy will be aware, under section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff.
My Department's Justice Plan 2021 commits to supporting the EDI Strategy to ensure the organisation can attract, retain and develop a diverse and inclusive workforce, including preparation of a diversity recruitment roadmap. This roadmap will be informed by current work in An Garda Síochána to identify key challenges related to the recruitment and retention of individuals from minority backgrounds.
The EDI Strategy sets out 11 strategic goals to be met by the end of 2021 to increase equality, diversity and inclusion within the organisation, including the establishment of governance structures to ensure the strategy’s goals are met. An EDI Leadership Council, chaired by the Deputy Commissioner Strategy, Governance and Performance and colleagues from across the public sector, including my Department, and academia has been established to oversee this work including addressing the issue of greater diversity in recruitment within the Gardaí. The EDI Strategy also provides for the establishment of an Internship Programme for both school leavers and graduates. The aim of this Programme is to attract graduates and school leavers from communities that have been traditionally under-represented within An Garda Síochána.
In order to support the objective of attracting, developing and retaining individuals of talent and representation from minority and diverse communities, the Garda National Diversity and Inclusion Unit (GNDIU), in conjunction with Garda Human Resources Equality Diversity and Inclusion Section, are actively engaging with representatives of minority groups.
