Irish Examiner View: Focus for gardaí needs to be broadened

Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan's concerns about Garda staff recruitment may be valid, but the force also has a very real problem with staff retention

Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan stated that 55 of 315 Garda recruit candidates failed the Garda fitness test, adding the test is too demanding compared to those in other countries. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

A wide range of challenges face gardaí at present. 

Policing the far right’s efforts to intimidate children is an ongoing issue, while also covering large swathes of rural Ireland where people are living in fear — as detailed in this newspaper yesterday — is a different but no less difficult task.

Recruitment of additional gardaí is therefore a high priority, but this week Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan stated that 55 of 315 Garda recruit candidates failed the Garda fitness test, adding that the test is too demanding compared to those in other countries and is a disincentive when it comes to recruitment.

Is this a false logic? After all, the idea of a test carries with it an explicit notion of standards which must be reached — and the possibility that some test candidates may not reach those standards. A test that all candidates could pass would hardly be a test worthy of the name.

Also, the exact parameters of other forces’ fitness tests are not as important as the fact that those jurisdictions recognise the need for physical competence to carry out a physical job — consequently, candidates must be evaluated physically.

Mr O’Callaghan’s concerns about staff recruitment may be valid, but the force also has a very real problem with staff retention. 

Before Christmas the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors was advocating for an extension to the retirement age for their members (which has been done with the Defence Forces) while the Garda Representative Association was claiming “unprecedented” numbers of gardaí were leaving the force.

Even if recruitment numbers improve, losing long-serving gardaí, with all their nous and experience, offsets the benefits of recruitment somewhat. Perhaps improving the working conditions of gardaí would as helpful as a focus on the fitness test for recruits.