More than 250 new members of the Garda graduated today at the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary.
The 254 will join the 13,178 fully certified members of the Garda Síochána.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the Government intended to increase the number of recruits until there were 16,000 gardaí operating around the State.
Mr McDowell commended the figures released yesterday by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that revealed a drop in headline crime of 5.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2007 and a 2.2 per cent decline in the 12-month period running up to the first quarter of this year.
The number of drugs offences, fraud offences and abductions were up on the same period last year, but there was a reported decline in many other types of recorded crime, including murder, personal theft and sexual assaults.
The Crime and Victimisation Survey from the CSO found that there was a slight reduction in the personal crime rates between 2003 and 2006, but crime figures have shown a significant rise since the 1990s as both the 2003 and 2006 rates were approximately double the 2.4 per cent prevalence rates in 1998.
Speaking today, Mr McDowell said: "While the survey reveals some challenges for An Garda Síochána it is good to see that a majority of Irish people retain their faith in and support for the force."
The study revealed 50.9 per cent of people rated the work of the Garda in local areas as "good or very good" - a reduction from 2003 and 1998 when the corresponding figures were 56.4 per cent and 63.4 per cent respectively.
The CSO survey found that the "proportion of people who rated the work of the Garda as "very good" has almost halved in the period since 1998, from 18.6 per cent to 9.6 per cent.