Peadar Tóibín
Question:1004. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice the number of persons recruited to An Garda Síochána in each of the past five years, and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [17766/23]
View answerTuesday, 18 April 2023
Questions (1004)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the administration and management of An Garda Síochána, including responsibility for the recruitment, training and deployment of Garda members. As Minister, I have no role in such matters.
I am however assured that Garda management keeps the distribution of resources under continual review. I am advised that this is considered in the context of crime trends and policing priorities, to ensure the optimum use of these resources.
Since 2015, the budget for An Garda Síochána has increased by approximately €672m, or 46%. This has allowed for sustained and ongoing recruitment and as Minister, I am committed to delivering the necessary resources to bring the number of Garda Members to 15,000 and beyond.
As of the end of March 2023, there were 14,036 Garda members across the country. This represents an increase of almost 10% since 2015 when there were 12,816 Garda members throughout the country. I also want to acknowledge that Garda recruitment was significantly and understandably disrupted when the Garda college at Templemore was necessarily closed during the COVID pandemic.
The Government has provided funding to support 1,000 new Gardaí this year and we are seeing more Garda recruits enter Templemore approximately every 11 weeks. The capacity of the Garda College will also expand to allow up to 225 Garda trainees for the four remaining planned intakes of 2023.
With this momentum building through the year, we remain committed to the target of 1,000 new Gardaí this year. An Garda Síochána also recently launched a new recruitment campaign which closed on 14 April 2023. I would like to encourage anyone called as part of the 2022 or 2023 competition not to defer but to make sure they’re fully fit and ready to take up the opportunity.
My Department and I engage regularly with the Garda authorities with a view to ensuring that every possible support is in place to deliver on this level of recruitment.
The table below, provided to me by the Garda authorities, outlines the number of new Gardaí recruited in each of the past five years and to date in 2023.
|
Year |
Number of new Gardaí recruited |
|
2019 |
600 |
|
2020 |
275 |
|
2021 |
385 |
|
2022 |
116 |
|
2023 |
135 |
I would also like to take this opportunity to inform you that the above figures refer to the number of Garda Trainees who start in the Garda College. There after the recruit must undertake Phase 1 successfully before they are attested.
I am advised by the Garda authorities that Phase 1 takes around 6 months to complete.
I am also advised that due to the gap from recruitment to attestation, it is often the case that a person would be recruited in one year and attest the following year.