Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2023
185. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Justice if she is satisfied with the number of gardaí in the force presently; the number of gardaí who will be retiring in the next 12 months; the number of gardaí who will be recruited in the same time; the number of gardaí who have retired early in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34683/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will appreciate the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management of and administration of An Garda Síochána. This includes the recruitment and retention of Garda members.
I can assure the Deputy the Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities and the 2023 budget of over €2 billion will allow for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff with recruits entering Templemore every 11 weeks. I can confirm that there are currently 370 recruits in the Garda College in Templemore.
The number of recruits have continued to grow in each class following the re-opening of college after Covid-19, with 92 recruits entered the training college in late November, 135 in February and another 154 in May. Another class will enter the college at the end of July.
The Deputy will also note that almost 5,000 people applied to join An Garda Síochána in this year’s recruitment 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. This campaign, which only closed on 14 April, will provide a stream of candidates for future intakes.
I understand the development of a recruitment and retention strategy is a priority for An Garda Síochána. As of the end of May 2023, there were 13,927 Garda members across the country. This represents an increase of over 8% since 2015. In addition, the civilianisation programme as freed up almost 900 Garda members from back office work for front line policing work since 2015.
In terms of retention, it’s important to note that just over 100 Gardaí resigned last year, which represents less than 1% of members. I have been informed by Garda authorities that, as of 31 May, 59 Garda members have resigned in 2023 while 150 have retired. I also understand An Garda Síochána have recently introduced exit interviews to get a clearer view on why people may choose to resign.
I can assure the Deputy that the Government remains committed to reaching its current targets of 15,000 Gardaí and 4,000 Garda staff and I will be engaging with my colleague, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, over the coming months, to secure the resources in 2024 to ensure that we continue to make progress towards those targets.
