Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am right. There is no age bar for the Garda Reserve. It sometimes carries out front-line Garda work but it does not have full Garda powers. I simply ask, in light of a direct request from a constituent, whether there have been updates since July 2011. Has the Minister given consideration to changing the upper age limit for entry? If the age limit was raised in 2004 by a significant amount then it should be possible to raise it again. The three arguments given by him do not seem to me to be sufficiently weighty to justify 37 years as being too old. The third issue of operational reasons is a matter of physical fitness which could be the subject of a very different test and perhaps does not require a blanket or rigid age limit. I am interested to hear the Minister of State's response.