Garda numbers fell during summer months despite new recruitment campaign

The number of Garda fell during the summer months as efforts to increase the size of the force to the Government target of 15,000 continued to falter.

As The Irish Times reports, there are now fewer sworn Garda members than at the start of last year, despite a new recruitment campaign.

A combination of resignations, retirements and smaller than expected classes entering the Garda College has resulted in two years of post-pandemic Garda recruitment making little progress.

While the force aims to recruit 200 to the Garda College each year, dozens of successful candidates in each intake have not been taking up their places over the past two years.

In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said the country was “currently experiencing effective full employment”, as had been the case for several years. “

An Garda Síochána is competing in this competitive employment market, as are other public and private employers,” it said.

However, annual recruitment competitions are still…