Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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425. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she directed the Garda Commissioner to attest early the 151 recruits in the Garda College which was announced recently. [53899/23]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible, under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended) for the management and administration of Garda business, including all HR and recruitment matters. As Minister I cannot seek to direct the Commissioner in relation to such matters and I had no role in his decision to move forward the attestation date from the 12th January 2024 to the 15th December 2023.

However I support his decision to attest in excess of 150 trainees early by a small number of weeks to support current policing requirements during this busy Christmas period. It is important to note that they will return to the college to complete their studies at a later date. A similar approach was taken in March 2020 when two classes attested early to support the policing response to Covid 19.