LAST UPDATE | 13 Oct 2023

THE GOVERNMENT IS to increase the age limit for new gardaí from 35 to 50, the Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has announced.

The decision was announced at the latest graduation ceremony for 126 new Gardaí in the Garda College in Templemore.

It also comes just days after a €2.3 billion allocation for An Garda Síochána in Budget 2024 to help build stronger, safer communities.

The funding includes an aspirational recruitment figure of 800 to 1,000 new Gardaí and an increase in the training allowance from €184 to €305.

In February, the Labour Court determined the age limit was unlawful and amounted to discrimination on the grounds of age. An appeal has been levelled against that decision. 

During evidence to the court in that case Commissioner Drew Harris had claimed that the age limit of 35 was “essential”. He further claimed that it was needed to maintain the bar on older candidates because of the need for stamina.   

Minister McEntee and Commissioner Harris made the announcement today.

They proposed that the age should be changed in advance of the next Garda recruitment campaign to give as many people as possible the opportunity to apply to An Garda Síochána.

The entry age limit of 35 has been in place since 2004, when it was increased from 26.

The retirement age is currently set at 60 and Minister McEntee is also in discussions with Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe on this issue.

Sources have said one of the key issues will be the payment into the Garda pension and whether the older joining age will impact this aspect. 

The change to the entry age can only be made by way of regulation following approval by the Cabinet, and McEntee will bring proposals to Government shortly.

It is anticipated that a class of 126 new Gardaí will graduate today and another class will enter Templemore on Monday.

135 trainees entered the training college in February, another 154 in May and a class of 174 in July – the Department of Justice has said that the total garda numbers will be at 14,032.

Gardaí believe that they will reach a level of between 700 and 800 new recruits this year.

McEntee has said she hopes the move brings a more diverse workforce and personnel with different skills that they have acquired throughout their lives.

Speaking to reporters at Templemore, the minister said “nothing was off the table” in regard to Garda recruitment and retention.

She refuted the idea that increasing the entry age limit was an act of “desperation” to sustain Garda numbers.

“Absolutely not, I think we live in a different world,” she said.

“People are living longer, they’re healthier for longer, but also people change careers in the way that they haven’t before. Somebody might have gone into a particular role and stayed there forever. It’s not the case now, people change multiple times.

“And this gives us an opportunity, particularly where we have such specialists and diverse units within An Garda Siochana, for people to actually bring a level of expertise that we maybe haven’t seen before.”

The minister also acknowledged that her “ambitious” target of securing 1,000 recruits this year will fall short, with between 700-800 new gardai set to pass through Templemore by year end.

She said €2.3 billion of funding for the Garda outlined in Budget 2024 included provision for the recruitment of between 800 to 1,000 new gardai.

McEntee said increasing the weekly training allowance for Garda recruits by 66% to 305 euros would help when it came to attracting people aged over 35, who may have more financial commitments than younger colleagues, to sign up to the force.

However, Labour justice spokesperson Aodhan O Riordain has criticised the move on the grounds that the training allowance for new recruits is less than the minimum wage, saying the intervention “will not work”.

“We should be raising pay, not just age limits,” the TD said.

“Right now, the Garda training allowance is €305 a week. It’s simply not enough to encourage people to join up.

The recruitment crisis is rife in the Gardai but it is not because of the cut off age. It is because serving members of the force feel utterly disrespected due to the paltry pay they receive.

“The issue is, many people are giving up good paying jobs to become a Garda, then they arrive at college and realise they’re on poverty pay. Many have families or financial commitments they need to fund. Those in their late 30s and 40s certainly will have these commitments.”

He called on the government to replace the current training allowance amount with the full Garda starting salary of nearly €35,000.

Additional reporting by Lauren Boland