The Gardaí’s 2023 recruitment campaign attracted less than half of the number who applied to join the force in the past year.
New figures from Attorney General Simon Harris TD confirm that the recent Garda recruitment drive attracted 4,973 applicants, reports Breaking News.
This compares to 11,075 applicants for the 2022 recruitment campaign.
The figure for the year 2022 was raised, however, as no recruitment campaign was held in 2020 when the Garda Síochána Training School in Templemore was closed due to Covid-19. The 2023 campaign started on March 24th and ended on April 14th
In a written response from the Dáil to Limerick MPs Willie O’Dea (FF) and Maurice Quinlivan (SF), Mr Harris said: “This year’s campaign, which was shorter in duration than the 2022 campaign, attracted 4,973 applicants,” reports Breaking News.
He said: “While there was some pent up demand last year due to the pause in Garda recruitment due to COVID, this level of interest is in line with 2019, the last pre COVID recruitment campaign, and demonstrates the demand to join An Garda Siochana is as strong as ever,” reports Breaking News.
Mr Harris also explained that “the initial stage of the application process for this year’s campaign also differed to the 2022 campaign with all applicants filling out an application in the first instance, rather than just declaring an interest”, reports Breaking News.
The latest recruitment drive is expected to help recruit 1,000 new Gardaí this year.
At the start of this year’s recruitment campaign, there were already over 200 trainees in the Garda Síochána College, as a result of the 2022 recruitment campaign launched in 2022.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has informed Secretary Harris that he intends to pour four more tranches of around 225 recruits into Templemore over the remainder of 2023, provided by candidates from the previous campaign and placed with him later at the new recruitment campaign, reports Breaking News.
Conceived by advertising company CORE, the tt’s a Job Worth Doing 2023 recruitment campaign highlighted the true nature of the job – working 4am, making arrests, being physically active, and the significant personal and social benefits such as: community involvement, arresting criminals, helping victims of crime, and fellowship with peers.
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