James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of the things we can do is to highlight the importance of the Garda Reserve and the role it can play in supporting An Garda Síochána. Recruitment to the Garda Reserve did cease and it is regrettable that there has been a reduction in the strength of the reserve in recent years. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland concluded that the Garda Reserve programme was not being utilised to its full potential and recommended that future recruitment to the Garda Reserve should be paused pending the outcome of a comprehensive strategic review to examine how best to structure the reserve to meet the needs of An Garda Síochána. An Garda Síochána has now completed this review and published its new reserve strategy on 19 October 2021. I assure the Deputy that An Garda Síochána will have the full support of the Government in implementing the new reserve strategy and in beginning a new recruitment process to increase the number of Garda reservists. The current number of reservists as of 31 August 2022 is 389. I am informed that a total of 72 Garda reservists attested in 2021 while only one attested in 2022 due to the pausing of recruitment while we waited for the implementation of the new strategy.

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