Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy rightly indicates, there is huge interest in the Garda Reserve which has tallied with the new and ongoing recruitment. In fact, 23 members of the first group who entered the college in Templemore had been members of the Garda Reserve. Some 17 former members of the Garda Reserve were in the second batch of 100 new recruits, while 13 former members were in the third batch of 100 new recruits. Recruitment has been ongoing but slowed somewhat in 2014.

In view of the recruitment to An Garda Síochána, the Public Appointments Service focused on that. For the information of Deputy Collins who has an interest in this area, this is expected to change in 2015. There will be further, more accelerated recruitment to the Garda Reserve. It is also expected that new powers will be rolled out to the Garda Reserve shortly, and I will keep the Deputy informed as that progresses.

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