Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 437: To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when it is envisaged that Garda recruitment will resume and the status of those on the panel of candidates shortlisted in 2008 for a selection process which did not proceed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30661/12]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The moratorium on recruitment remains in place, as the objective set out in agreement with the EU and the IMF, is to reduce the numbers of public servants. What will ultimately determine the sustainable level of Garda numbers, and therefore establish when recruitment will recommence, is the level of budgetary provision that can be made for the Force. The Government are conscious that difficult decisions will continue to have to be made, right across the public sector, in order to bring our public finances back into balance.

I have been informed by the Garda Authorities that there is a Garda recruitment panel currently in place consisting of applicants selected by the Public Appointments Service as part of a 2008 recruitment campaign. However, no offers of employment have been made to applicants since the introduction of the public service moratorium on recruitment in 2009. Given that the current panel is in existence since 2008, the lifetime of the panel, and the position of applicants on it, is being kept under review in the light of when Garda recruitment might recommence.