Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 226: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of people who applied to join the Garda Reserve annually since its establishment; the number who graduated but have since left the Reserve since its establishment; the number of hours carried out to date by the Reserve annually since its establishment; the cost of operating the Reserve annually since its establishment; and the funding being provided for 2009. [40116/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I have been advised by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) that the number of applications received by them to join the Garda Reserve is as follows.

At September 2006, 6,661 applications had been received following an initial recruitment campaign. At the end of December 2007, an exercise carried out by PAS showed that a total of 7,916 applications had been received up to that date. In the first ten months of this year, there have been a further 3,729 applications. 360 people have graduated as Garda Reserve members since its establishment. 29 of those have since left the Garda Reserve. The majority (20) have gone on to join the full-time force while 9 have left for personal reasons.

In 2007 expenditure from the Garda Reserve subhead in the Garda Vote amounted to €45,000. The provision in this subhead for 2008 is €1.28 million and expenditure to the end of October amounts to €229,000. The estimates for 2009 provide €1.28 million for this subhead. There are also costs which are not separately assigned to the Garda Reserve. These include the salary costs of Garda trainers as training Reserve members is considered part of the trainers' normal duties. In addition, uniforms for all Garda members are procured in bulk and as such, the specific cost of uniforms for the Garda Reserve members is not identifiable.

The information requested in relation to the number of hours duty that have been logged by members of the Garda Reserve since the inception of the Reserve is not readily available and could only be obtained by the disproportionate expenditure of Garda time and resources relative to the information sought. However, Section 11(4) of the Garda Síochána (Reserve Members) Regulations 2006 states that 'A Reserve member may not be required to serve more than 208 hours of duty in any 12 month period'.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 227: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the criteria required for acceptance to the Garda Reserve noting the large volume of applications but low number of Reserves; the number who progress through each stage of the application process to becoming trainees; and the five most common reasons that applications to join the Garda Reserve are unsuccessful. [40117/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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There are a range of reasons why not all applicants secure a place as Reserve trainees. Applicants must first of all meet the basic entry criteria relating to age and residence as set out in Section 4 of the Garda Síochána (Reserve Members) Regulations 2006. They 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.

All applicants are written to from time to time by the Public Appointments Service (PAS) advising them of when there will be interviews in their locality. Membership of the Reserve is a spare-time voluntary service. Therefore, a significant number of 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.

The recruitment process involves a number of stages at which applicants must succeed before proceeding to the next stage. The PAS carries out the interview and written test stage. At the outset of the process, a number of applicants scheduled by PAS to attend for interview and written test generally fail to attend. In 2008, approximately 80% of those who were scheduled to attend for interview actually attended. Success at both interview and written test is required to proceed to the next stages of the recruitment process. Of those that did attend approximately 65% 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. In a sample of cases in 2008, approximately 50% of those that were successful at the PAS stage of the process passed the medical and security vetting stage of the process.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 228: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the reason for the fluctuation in Garda Reserve numbers over periods of time. [40118/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Since its establishment in August 2006, the number of attested Garda Reserve members has risen steadily from 36 at the end of 2006 to 217 at the end of 2007 and a current number of 331. There are also currently 76 Garda Reserve trainees. There have been occasional slight fluctuations over the past two years as some members have decided to discontinue their membership for a variety of reasons. The majority have left to become full-time members of the force while a small number have left for personal reasons. I am confident that the Garda Reserve is on a sound footing and will continue to flourish with numbers growing steadily over time until the full complement of members is reached.