Minister Mitchell O’Connor has welcomed the accelerated Garda recruitment campaign, which was launch today by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald.

“I would encourage people in the constituency, and beyond, to consider applying to join An Garda Siochána. This new recruitment campaign will continue the ongoing accelerated recruitment to fulfil the Government’s commitment to increase the strength of An Garda Síochána to 15,000 members.

“It reflects the Government’s commitment to seamless ongoing recruitment to An Garda Síochána, to ensure that the force has the capacity to provide visible, responsive and effective policing to every community here in Dun Laoghaire and throughout the country.

“Taking account of projected retirements, reaching a strength of 15,000 will require some 3,200 new Garda members to be recruited on a phased basis over the next four years. That is in addition to the 1,200 that will have been recruited by the end of this year, since the reopening of the Garda College in September 2014.

“So far 534 recruits have been fully trained as members of An Garda Síochána and are on the ground in communities nationwide. Another 150 recruits are due to graduate later this year.

“It is essential to ensure that An Garda Síochána has the capacity to train larger numbers without reducing the quality of its training programme. It is also essential to provide appropriate supervision and support to newly qualified Gardaí to ensure that victims and the public are well served. I welcome the detailed planning process that the Commissioner and her team have in place to ensure the delivery of increased numbers of Gardaí without any compromise on the quality of those recruited or the training programme.

“I encourage all those who are interested in joining An Garda Síochána to visit the website of the Public Appointments Service and submit their application at www.publicjobs.ie.

“Fine Gael is committed to supporting communities across Ireland and I am committed to ensuring that the support is felt here in Dun Laoghaire. We are working to ensure that the economic recovery, which is now underway, reaches all parts of the country and the benefits are felt inside every doorstep and in every community.”

Notes
• The existing recruitment campaign (launched last November) is ongoing and successful candidates will continue to be called from that campaign this year and into next year. It is expected that successful candidates from the new campaign will enter the Garda College from mid-2017.
• Applications must be made through www.publicjobs.ie. The closing date for applications is Thursday 29 September 2016.
• Successful candidates are required to undergo a two year training programme leading to a BA in Applied Policing. The two year programme comprises a 32 week block of tuition at the Garda College in Templemore with a further 72 weeks of on the job experiential learning.