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

The Programme for Government makes a number of commitments in relation to training capacity at the Garda Training College, which are to:

• Continue to support and expand the Garda Training College in Templemore as the main and primary Garda Training college;
• Consider the establishment of a second Garda training college;
• Consider allowing Garda trainees to undergo part of their training course in regionally based Universities or Technological Universities.

Recruiting 5,000 Gardaí over the lifetime of the Government will routinely require Intakes in the range of 200 to 250.

To meet the Government’s recruitment targets, capacity to accommodate in the region of 1,000 recruits each year, or 250 per intake, is required. An Garda Síochána has advised that there are currently constraints in terms of the teaching, classroom and accommodation capacity of the College. A plan to address short-term capacity issues in the Garda College, as well as address required maintenance works, has been put in place by An Garda Síochána who are engaging intensively with the Office of Public Works (OPW) on the requirements for classroom space in particular.

An Garda Síochána are also working to address other operational requirements for 2025 and 2026. When completed it is expected that the College will be able to accommodate up to 250 trainees per intake.

The Deputy may also be aware that my predecessor established the Recruitment and Training Capacity Group in 2024 to support the achievement of increased recruitment. The Group has now completed its work and has published its report, which details the changes that have already been made by An Garda Síochána and publicjobs to their end-to-end processes for Garda Trainee recruitment.

This includes shortened recruitment timeframes, reform of the physical competency test, introduction of an Assessment Centre approach to elements of recruitment and two recruitment competitions launched in 2025. These changes have significantly improved the situation on recruitment and the Group is satisfied that the process has been made much more efficient.

The Group has recommended that research be conducted to gain further insight on the decision-making process of potential Garda recruits, to help inform further enhancements to the recruitment process.

The Report also recommends that a Working Group be established, in line with the commitments in the Programme for Government, to consider specifically the case for a second training college and the role that the tertiary system (which includes regionally based universities and technological universities) could play in the delivery of Garda training. Work is underway to establish this group and I have instructed my officials that the group should report to me by July 2026.