Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal, and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, has said that the announcement of the recruitment of a further 250 Garda recruits in 2015 is encouraging.
“I am pleased that the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD, has announced that recruitment will take place for a further 250 Gardaí this year. For five years, there had been no recruitment for An Garda Síochána whatsoever; however, in line with our economic growth, this Government was able to restart the recruitment process last September and, since then, 300 Garda recruits have entered the Garda College in Templemore. The first of these 300 recruits will join An Garda Síochána as sworn members in May.
“Upon lifting the embargo introduced by the previous government and reopening the Garda College, this Government committed to not letting it close again. In line with this commitment, there will be two intakes of new Gardaí this year, each comprising of 125 recruits. This will bring the total number of Gardaí recruited by this Government, between September 2014 and 2015, to 550. In addition to this, €27.5 million was invested in new Garda vehicles between 2012 and 2014, which was a massive increase on the €4.8 million allocated by the previous Government in Budgets 2009-2011. 370 new Garda vehicles came on stream at the beginning of this year.
“I am delighted that 250 new Gardaí are to be recruited this year, that 370 new Garda vehicles have been obtained, and that the first of the recruits currently in the Garda College will join the force throughout the country in May. Ensuring we have a strong, and visible, Garda presence in local communities throughout the North County is of the utmost importance in terms of reducing crime rates. Ongoing Garda recruitment will boost the number of Gardaí on our streets, which is one of the most effective deterrents to crime.
“Additional intakes to the Garda College will allow the Garda Commissioner to provide additional resources to Dublin Fingal and I will continue to work with the Minister for Justice and Equality to ensure that further recruitment takes place as required.”