Collapse in number of Garda recruits with just 94 hired this year
The Garda passing out parade in Templemore in July. Justice Minister Helen McEntee told the Dáil there were 24 recruits, as of September 30, and that a further 70 new trainees are expected in November and December. Picture: Brendan Gleeson
Just over 90 Garda recruits will be taken on for the whole of 2022, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has confirmed.
It marks a 75% collapse on numbers achieved in 2021, when 385 people entered the college in Templemore, and compares to a target of 800 recruits for 2022.
The restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic severely hit recruitment numbers, which dropped from 600 in 2019 to 275 in 2020 before increasing to 385 in 2021.
Despite more than 11,000 people applying to be gardaí in the most recent competition, details of which were published last April, little over 20 recruits have entered the college this year to date.
Ms McEntee told the Dáil there were 24 recruits, as of September 30, and that a further 70 new trainees are expected in November and December.
While the Government says Covid restrictions continued to affect recruitment through much of this year, there are also reports that a significant number of applicants failed fitness tests.
The strength of the Garda organisation has fallen over the last two years and, at the end of August, stood at 14,283.
At the same time in 2021, the strength was 14,369 and at the end of August 2020, it was 14,628.
While an estimated 94 people will be recruited in total this year, up to 270 gardaí have retired from the force, as of September.
In reply to a parliamentary question posed by Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, Ms McEntee said: “When combined with the 369 gardaí who have left the college in 2022, this means an expected total of over 460 will have either graduated from or entered college in 2022.”
Ms McEntee secured funding for 1,000 recruits in 2023 and has said she is confident that number, which is 10 times that of this year, can be achieved.
The Government has suggested five batches of 200 recruits for next year.
Both the Garda Commissioner and the Policing Authority have publicly asked the Government to rethink the longstanding target of reaching 15,000 gardaí, saying that more were needed given the increasing population and greater demands on policing.
Ms McEntee has said she is “happy to go beyond” 15,000 but has said her first priority is to reach that landmark.
She has accepted that the Garda strength has hovered around 14,300 for the last year but said that she is confident the announcement under Budget 2023, providing funding for 1,000 recruits, would bring numbers to 15,000.
The Garda Representative Association, which has around 11,500 frontline members, has repeatedly said there simply are not enough gardaí to provide a proper policing service.
In a separate reply, Ms McEntee provided Labour TD for Cork East, Sean Sherlock, with up-to-date Garda numbers for the three Cork divisions:
- Cork City: 712;
- Cork North: 337;
- Cork West: 294.
“These figures represent increases from 2016 of 11% in Cork City, 12% in Cork North, and 5% in Cork West,” she said.
She said that Cork City had a total of 146 Garda vehicles, while Cork North had 61 and Cork West had 80.
