Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I know he is a busy man these days.

I tabled this Adjournment because a number of people, who are members of An Garda Síochána Reserve, applied to join An Garda Síochána when the recent recruitment drive took place. Thousands of people applied to join An Garda Síochána but only a couple of hundred, at a maximum, will be successful. People who have served in the Garda Reserve did not even get called for an interview. They felt a little let down, particularly given the fact that a number of them have served in the Garda Reserve since day one. It is reasonable to expect that somebody who has served in the Garda Reserve for a minimum of two years or 24 months and has a clean record, good references and is well regarded should have got called for an interview. That would have been fair and proper, particularly given the fact that they had given up two years of their time, on a voluntary basis, to serve in the reserve. It they have done that and shown themselves to be good competent citizens, and they are recommended, then they should have automatically been included for interview for An Garda Síochána when the recruitment process came around.

I know that nothing can be done about the current recruitment drive at this stage. With all things being equal, it is not unreasonable to promote the idea that somebody with a minimum specified period in the Garda Reserve, proper references and so on, are afforded an opportunity - out of common courtesy if for no other reason - to reach the interview stage and be interviewed.

I am certainly not advocating that they should have a direct VIP pass into the Garda Síochána but it is more than reasonable that they should be afforded the opportunity of an interview.