Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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439. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his immediate plans to help address with the recruitment and retention issues of Gardaí. [4402/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Government is committed to building stronger, safer communities, and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the core of that. We will continue to provide An Garda Síochána with the resources it needs to ensure communities around Ireland are safe and feel safe, including to invest in recruitment, in equipment and technology and in buildings. This is reflected in the unprecedented allocation of over €2.48 billion to An Garda Síochána in Budget 2025, a 27% increase since 2020. This funding allows for the continued recruitment of Garda members and staff.

Significant measures have been made to boost recruitment including increasing the Garda trainee allowance to €354 per week; the age of entry has increased from 35 to 50; and the mandatory retirement age has been raised to 62.

A new Garda recruitment campaign has been launched this week with a closing date of Thursday 27th February, and I hope to see more significant interest following almost 6,400 applications in last year’s competition. A competition to recruit new Garda reserves opened last year, the first in many years. Garda reserves play a vital role in their communities, and the revised regulations brought forward will allow them to contribute even more effectively. The first intake is expected to begin training in the coming weeks.

The Programme for Government commits to examining a range of further measures to enable An Garda Síochána recruit 5,000 members across the next five years, and I have already had initial conversations with the Commissioner about how that might be achieved.

A Recruitment and Training Capacity Group has been established, chaired by a Deputy Secretary General in my Department, to support the achievement of increased recruitment. The Group will keep me informed on actions being taking to maximise future intakes and to ensure the 2025 recruitment can be as effective as possible. The Group will also provide a final report to me by the summer which I expect will include further measures to support recruitment and retention.