New Garda recruitment campaign to start next week

The newly-appointed Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan has announced the 2025 Garda recruitment campaign, which will open for applications on 6 February.

Minister O’Callaghan said that he is delighted to have been appointed as Minister for Justice and highlighted his commitment to supporting Garda recruitment.

The provision of more than €2.48 billion in Budget 2025 will support the recruitment of new Garda members, Garda staff and Garda Reserves. The Programme for Government also commits to providing funding to recruit at least 5,000 new Gardaí over the next five years.

Announcing the 2025 Garda recruitment campaign, Minister O’Callaghan said:

“I am delighted to have been appointed as Minister for Justice. A particular priority for me - and a key deliverable in our Programme for Government - is growing the size of An Garda Síochána, so that we can get more gardaí on the ground in our communities.

“Improving our capacity to recruit Gardaí and train them effectively will be a focus of mine as Minister. The Programme for Government contains a range of measure to help us achieve that goal.

“That’s why my first announcement as Minister is the launch of a new Garda recruitment campaign next week.

“This new recruitment campaign will open on 6 February and will be open for applications for three weeks. As the tagline says, ‘it’s a job worth doing’ and I hope that as many people as possible will think about the opportunities that a career in An Garda Síochána presents and consider applying.”

Recruitment into An Garda Síochána has accelerated following the forced closure of the Garda College during the pandemic. The 2024 Garda recruitment campaign received a strong response, with almost 6,400 applications, one third of which were from the 35-49 age group. That was the first time that those aged over 35 could apply.

The Programme for Government outlines a number of measures intended to strengthen An Garda Síochána, expand the organisation’s resources, and modernise support to tackle crime. These include a reform of the Garda recruitment and training processes to increase capacity; examining the introduction of an accelerated graduate entry programme to An Garda Síochána; and implementation of a new Garda Capital Plan to deliver modern, well-equipped Garda stations across the country.

Minister O’Callaghan further noted recent steps taken to accelerate recruitment into An Garda Síochána:

“Over recent years, the allowance for trainee Gardaí has been increased to €354, and that’s an area that I am going to look at again in the context of the Programme for Government. The maximum age of entry has also been increased from 35 to 50; and the mandatory retirement age has been increased to 62 – I think we will see some impact from these changes this year.

“I look forward to working with the Garda Commissioner and my own Department to grow a bigger and stronger police service that keeps us all safe.”

Prospective candidates can visit publicjobs.ie for more information on how to apply