Garda recruitment is “really gaining momentum” and more gardaí will be recruited this year than in 2023 after a decline in the strength of the force over the last four years, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.
Although a class of new recruits passing out in the Garda College, Templemore, Co Tipperary, on Friday numbered 166 recruits, short of the targeted 200, Ms McEntee said it was the largest class she had seen in her time as minister.
“We set a target of between 800 and 1,000 last year and we didn’t quite get to that,” Ms McEntee said of recruitment targets that also fell short in 2022 amid concern about falling numbers.
“But I can see from the numbers coming through – 5,000 people applying to becoming gardaí last year and 6,300 this year – so there is a steady flow. And for a class starting [in Templemore] in a couple of weeks, those numbers are really good,” she said.
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She added the age limit for new recruits had been increased from 35 to 50 years while the retirement age for Garda members was being raised to 62. A large increase in the training allowance for recruits had also been put in place to help ensure the numbers applying for places in the force remained high.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents over 10,000 rank and file gardaí, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), have both been strongly critical of Garda recruitment. They have said recruitment targets were repeatedly missed, adding more Garda members were resigning over a range of issues including poor training, lower pensions and the nature of Garda oversight.
Also speaking in Templemore on Friday, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said 10 of the 166 recruits passing out were being allocated to Operation Saul, which targets antisocial behaviour on public transport. He added the deployment would allow for a permanent team to be created based in Dublin north central, patrolling public transport across the city.
Some 101 of the new gardaí will be posted to the Dublin region while 39 will go to stations in the eastern region, 14 to the southern region and 12 to the northwestern region.
In his address to the passing out ceremony, Mr Harris told the newest members of the force the Garda was built on “hard work, dedication and commitment”.
“As one of the most trusted police services in the world, the vast majority of people believe An Garda Síochána delivers a good service,” he said. “And most people have few concerns about crime in their local area.”
Following the passing out ceremony, the number of Garda members has now passed 14,000 again, and stands at 14,091, working alongside 3,494 civilian staff and 346 Garda reservists. A further 277 Garda recruits are currently training in the college while 553 new gardaí have passed out since Garda recruitment was recommenced after the pandemic.
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