Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 December 2023
42. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Justice if she acknowledges the current retention crisis facing An Garda Síochána; what measures her Department is taking to address same; what recommendations her Department has made to An Garda Síochána to increase recruitment to the Garda force; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55420/23]
View answerI ask the Minister to acknowledge the current retention crisis facing An Garda Síochána and to outline the measures her Department is taking to address same. What recommendations has the Department made to An Garda Síochána to increase recruitment to the force? What I am really asking is that the Minister acknowledge the current retention crisis facing An Garda Síochána.
The numbers we have are certainly not where I would like them to be.
Due to the fact that the college was closed to new recruits, it meant no new recruits were going through the college for a period of almost two years. This means we are approximately 1,000 short of where we should be and certainly where I would like to be. That is a challenge. It poses a challenge to the overall running and management of An Garda Síochána. In saying that, our figures are higher than they were a number of years prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we have more specialist teams and more teams working in specialist areas, which means the gardaí on the beat and that visible presence are where people are maybe feeling the stretch. That is something that we, and the Commissioner, are constantly trying to respond to.
On trying to get numbers into the Garda college, we have committed an unprecedented allocation of €2.3 billion in the budget. Money has never been an issue as regards getting members into the college. The required funding has been allocated. We have had two recruitment campaigns since the reopening of the college to new recruits. The first resulted in 12,000 people who applied, 5,000 applied following the most recent campaign, and we will have a new campaign early in the new year. We have increased the accommodation allowance for the new trainees by two thirds. I would like to go further and keep moving but it was increased by two thirds for this year, which reflects the fact that members are in the college and some of them have mortgages to pay and families. The rate they had been on was not sufficient.
We have also increased the age at which members can join An Garda Síochána. The new recruitment campaign in the new year will include the increase in the age limit from 35 years to 50 years. On the other side of things, and in response to a previous question, the retirement age is currently 60, but I anticipate that will be increased in the very near future, reflecting the fact that we are losing a number of skilled people. People are healthier, fitter and are living much healthier lives for longer.
Overall, we cannot just look at people going in. We need to make sure that we also support people who are there. That is why exit interviews are taking place at present. It is to make sure that where people are raising concerns, be they of a structural or support nature, or any other type, we will be able to respond as effectively as possible.
We all know there is a huge recruitment crisis. There have been many promises and budgetary commitments but, as the Minister said, budget is clearly not the issue. We have to look at what the issue is and why we cannot meet targets, or recruit to cover the capacity of those who are leaving, out sick or on suspension. We are in a bad way. We are in crisis and that crisis needs to come to a head. The recent recruitment campaigns have been well oversubscribed. The demand among the public might actually be there but there is some reason we are not getting people into the system.
Maybe we need to open a second Templemore training college somewhere else in the country. We certainly need to look at accommodation. When I talk to new recruits, their biggest issue is that they are coming out of the college trained but have not been stationed anywhere. A week out from having to become a member of An Garda Síochána on the streets, they do not know where they are going to live or whether they will get accommodation.
This is a challenge for new recruits when they come out. They only find out where they are going relatively close to when they finish. It is for that very reason the Commissioner needs to be agile and needs to be able to respond to issues in certain areas as they emerge. Where resources are required, that is where people are directed to. As I said, even the most recent class in Templemore is coming out a month early. That is not something they might have planned for or anticipated but they are responding to a need that is very much there in our city centre, but which is also a requirement outside Dublin city centre.
On trying to meet the overall targets, it has been made clear to me that accommodation is not necessarily the problem. We have taken a number of measures to shorten the PAS process. As a significant number of people are applying, it takes a period of time for the PAS process to work and for names to be given to the Garda. There is then a medical, a fitness test, if somebody has lived abroad, he or she has to get vetting from that other country for which a timeline cannot be dictated, and then we have to make sure that people still want to join. What is surprising to me is the number of deferrals. There are people who apply but are still in college, university or studying and who want to finish their course of study, or for whatever reason. For every three months of the intake, there are people who defer. PAS is trying to manage all of this.
Overall, what is very positive is that the most recent campaign attracted 5,000 people, even when we are at full employment. It shows that this an organisation that people want to be part of. I will do everything I can to speed up that process and when gardaí are in there, to support them insofar as possible.
There is also a huge issue with retention and the major loss when members of An Garda Síochána decide they need to leave the force. I sincerely hope that we are doing exit interviews and that we take the information as feedback and do something with it. All of their knowledge, training and expertise goes with them and it takes years to gain that experience as a new recruit.
I will address an issue that is pertinent to our difficulties with recruitment. I received hundreds of items of correspondence from retired members of An Garda Síochána inquiring about pension parity and whether that will be maintained in the up and coming pay talks. Pension parity means that as the salaries of serving members increase, the pensions of retired gardaí also increase in line with that. That is primary to how we treat gardaí. If they are in a position where their pension will be reduced or not kept on par to deal with cost-of-living increases, it will be a deterrent to new recruits. I hope the Minister is in a position to give a commitment that there will be pension parity.
To assure the Deputy on the retention issue, exit interviews are being done. I will have a full report, as I said, in the new year.
When it comes to the pay talks, I am obviously not around the table. I can certainly advocate to make sure the Garda representative organisations are around the table. That was done at the last round of talks, and again in this round, to make sure they are there and around the table in a way that they have not been in previous years. Anything that is decided, or a decision that is taken, will take place as part of the overall talks, which are ongoing at present. I have full confidence in the associations to make their representations and the views of their members on this issue clear, but also in the Minister for Finance and his team to be able to respond and get the best outcome insofar as possible, not just for the Garda associations but all the other unions that are representing their members in the talks.
