Gardaí offer 300 jobs to civilians

SOME 300 civilians are being recruited to An Garda Síochána as part of a major drive to release office-bound gardaí for operational duties.

Skilled professionals are also being asked to apply for senior positions in the force as part of the advertisement campaign, which begins in the national media today and tomorrow.

The force is looking for people to fill specialist “senior executive posts,” including chief administrative officer and separate directors for human resource management, information technology, strategy, communications and an legal advisor.

As part of the Government’s strategy to civilianise administrative work within the force, the campaign is recruiting 300 civilian support staff at clerical officer grade.

“Successful candidates will be deployed primarily in administrative roles, occupying posts currently held by sworn officers, releasing the latter to operational policing duties,” states the advertisement.

Justice Minister Michael McDowell has said in recent months that he was determined to free up gardaí who have been caught up in desk-based clerical work and put them out on the street on front-line duties.

The recruitment literature states that a significant number of successful candidates will be allocated to garda facilities in the greater Dublin area. A small number of posts will be offered outside of Dublin.

The recruitment process is being undertaken, on behalf of the Garda Commissioner, by the Public Appointments Service.

People interested are advised to look at the advertisements in the national newspapers and register their interest at www.publicjobs.ie.

The campaign said that advertisements for new specialists posts will appear in the coming weeks.

For further information on garda reform, visit www.garda.ie