Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Question 34: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the five most common reasons that applications to join the Garda Reserve are unsuccessful; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14135/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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There are a range of reasons not all applicants secure a place as Reserve trainees. It must always be borne in mind that membership of the Reserve is a spare-time voluntary service and so applicants may not always be available to attend for interview or take up a place in training when it is first offered due to family, work or social commitments.

Applicants must first of all meet the basic entry criteria relating to age and residence and must also satisfy the criteria regarding occupations, for example, members of the Defence Forces are precluded from joining. It may not be clear when the initial application is made whether an applicant satisfies the criteria.

Many applicants for the Garda Reserve also apply to join as full-time members and leave aside their Reserve application to take up places as full-time trainee gardaí.

The recruitment process involves a number of stages at which applicants must succeed before proceeding to the next stage. The Public Appointments Service carries out the interview and written test stage. To date in 2008 182 applicants have attended the Public Appointments Service interview and written test. Success at both interview and written test is required to proceed to the next stages of the recruitment process. Of the 182 applicants interviewed and tested so far this year, 117 were successful.

If successful at the Public Appointments Service stage, applicants must then pass a Garda medical examination and must satisfy the requirements of a rigorous background security vetting.