David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

321. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the average timeline for each stage in the recruitment of a new Garda, from application to job offer, by county, in tabular form. [10262/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This Government will be resolute in its support of Gardaí. We want to build safe and secure communities, and a well-resourced An Garda Síochána is critical to achieving that. 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 spoken already with the Commissioner about how this might be achieved.

Under section 26 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended), the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of Garda business, including the recruitment and training of Garda members and staff and that as Minister I have no role in these functions.

I am advised by the Garda authorities that the total recruitment process, from application to offer of a place in the Garda training college, took an average of 62 weeks based on data from 2022 and 2023. The shortest timeframe was 26 weeks.

The variance in timeframes is influenced by individual candidate factors in relation to vetting, medical or physical competency. AGS have determined that the recruitment process for 95% of successful candidates is currently completed within 50 weeks.

Based on an analysis of this data, efforts have been made by various stakeholders in the recruitment process to make the process more efficient.

The current Public Jobs selection process has been reduced from 23 weeks in 2022 to 12 weeks in 2024 for the initial batch of candidates to progress through the system and their names submitted to An Garda Síochána. When a Garda Trainee applicant is successful at the initial interview stage their name is passed to An Garda Síochána to commence the remaining stages of the selection process.

The stages of the selection process which are carried out by An Garda Síochána include Physical Competency Test, Substance Misuse Test, Medical, and Vetting. It is worth noting that all applicants’ circumstances can vary and the time taken to complete the An Garda Síochána-led selection elements can vary significantly from applicant to applicant.

For example, AGS vetting process can vary greatly for individual candidates due to aspects that may impact one candidate but not another, for example having lived abroad in several countries compared to having lived solely in Ireland.

In relation to security clearance and vetting, An Garda Síochána is unique in that it is not only the national police service but also the State's security service. As members of An Garda Síochána may be required to fulfil both of these roles throughout their careers, more stringent criteria apply than those in place across the wider Civil and Public Services. I am assured that every effort is made to process security clearance and vetting for applicants to An Garda Síochána as expeditiously as possible, without compromising the integrity of the system.

The Foundation Training programme for Garda trainees is 104 weeks in duration and is carried out across three phases. Garda Trainees are attested as members of An Garda Síochána upon successful completion of Phase 1 which is 36 weeks in duration. Following attestation, Probationer Gardaí are allocated to Training Stations for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Foundation Training programme.

As this is a national competition, it is not possible to provide a ‘by county’ breakdown as requested by the Deputy. Furthermore, the allocation of resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner.