Jim O'Callaghan
Question:871. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice how many people were recruited into An Garda Síochána in the first six months of 2023. [36718/23]
View answerTuesday, 25 July 2023
Questions (871, 872)
Jim O'Callaghan
Question:872. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Justice the total estimated number of persons who will be recruited into An Garda Síochána in 2023. [36719/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 871 and 872 together.
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.
As the Deputy is aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible by law for the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff. The early stages of the recruitment process are managed by the independent Public Appointments Service on behalf of the Garda Commissioner.
We are now in a period of sustained Garda recruitment, both of Garda members and Garda staff – increasing the number of Gardaí on duty and allowing for the redeployment of more Gardaí to frontline policing duties. The number of recruits have continued to grow in each intake 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 intake will enter the college at the end of July and we will have over 450 Garda recruits in training.
An Garda Síochána is prepared to take in a new class every 11 weeks for the remainder of the year, as provided for in their budget, and I will also be Templemore every three months for graduations every three months. 24 Probationer Gardaí attested from the Garda College in January of this year, and the first intake from the 2022 recruitment campaign are due to attest at the end of July.
Overall, since 2015 there has been an almost 9% net increase in the number of Gardaí, and this sustained progress will be maintained through An Garda Síochána’s continued recruitment, supported by the Government’s funding. These Gardaí are supported by around 3,130 Garda staff, which is over 50% more than the number of staff in 2015. This increases the availability of Gardaí to concentrate on frontline policing duties.
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 closed on 14 April, will provide a stream of candidates for future intakes.
The initial stage of the application process for this year’s campaign differed to the 2022 campaign with all applicants filling out an application in the first instance, rather than just declaring an interest. This gives a clearer idea of how many people are fully committed to applying this year.
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.
Question No. 872 answered with Question No. 871.