Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 141: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action that has been taken by his Department to ensure that An Garda Síochána attracts more recruits from ethnic minorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22545/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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In 2005 the Garda Síochána Admissions and Appointments Regulations 1988 were amended to remove the requirement to hold a qualification in both Irish and English in the Leaving Certificate or equivalent and was replaced with a requirement to hold a qualification in two languages, at least one of which must be Irish or English.

In addition the amendment provided that entry to An Garda Síochána would be open to:

(i)nationals of an EU Member State, an EEA State or the Swiss Confederation and

(ii)nationals of any other State who are lawfully present in Ireland and have a period of five years legal residence in Ireland.

Ethnic communities have been proactively targeted in recent recruitment campaigns and equally so in the latest recruitment campaign which began last month. Details of this campaign can be found at www.garda.ie or www.publicjobs.ie