The Deputy will be aware that the Public Appointments Service are managing this recruitment process for the Garda Commissioner and I have no direct involvement in the matter. I do not have the detailed information in relation to the percentage pass mark as requested by the Deputy. I have, however, been informed that some 25,000 applications were received in advance of the 9th January closing date for the current competition. The first stages of the testing have now been completed and candidates who have qualified through these have been placed in order of merit into three bands. Minimum qualifying scores have determined eligibility to progress from stage 1 to stage 2.
The top 5,000 candidates from the stage 1 tests have been placed in Band 1. These are now being called to the next stages of the competition which will also be run by PAS in association with An Garda Síochána. Candidates who are ultimately successful through all stages will be placed on a panel for entry into training in the Garda College. A candidate who fails any stage of the process will be eliminated from the competition and will not be allowed re-enter. It is not possible at this stage to state with any certainty how many trainees will progress from Band 1 to the Garda College as this will depend on the success rate of candidates at the next series of tests, assessments, interviews etc. Therefore, by definition, it is not possible to say when a candidate in Band 2 might be called to progress to the next stages of the competition. My objective is to maintain Garda strength at 13,000 and the number of trainees to be recruited will be determined taking that objective into account along with the rate of departures from the force over the coming years. It is worth noting on this point that, generally speaking, between 300 and 400 Gardaí leave the Force each year.
