THE GARDA TRAINING Allowance is set to be increased in a bid to boost Garda recruitment figures.

The current Garda Training Allowance, paid to recruits for the 33 weeks leading to them being sworn in as Garda members, is currently €305 per week and will be increased to €354 per week.

It follows a significant increase of the payment in January of this year, when the allowance was raised from €184 per week to €305 per week.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee made the announcement this afternoon from the Fine Gael think-in at the Tullamore Court Hotel in Co Offaly.

She said the increase will come into effect from 1 October and that it is in line with increases provided for in the Public Service Agreement 2024 – 2026.

McEntee said that Budget 2024 “provided the highest ever allocation to An Garda Síochána – over €2.35 billion, a 25% increase since 2020”.

She said the funding allows for the “continued recruitment of Garda members and staff, as well as investment in vehicles, equipment, and facilities for the organisation”.

McEntee further remarked that the increase in the Garda training allowance announced today builds on the previous increase from €184 to €305 per week and “represents an almost doubling of the allowance in the last 12 months”.

She said this is “one of a number of actions I am taking to support garda recruitment and retention”.

Other actions already undertaken include increasing the age of entry into An Garda Síochána from 35 to 50, increasing the retirement age from 60 to 62, and commencing a new Garda reserve competition.

The Garda Reserve is a volunteer service drawn from local communities and reserves work alongside full-time gardaí and assist in a variety of policing tasks.

McEntee added: “I have consistently said that no action is off the table when it comes to supporting Garda recruitment.

“I have established a Garda Recruitment Training Capacity Group to make recommendations on additional actions to increase recruitment, and that will report to me shortly.”

In March, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said he hoped officer numbers would reach 15,000 in the short term.

However, as of the end of July, the Garda member strength stood at 14,064.

Figures provided by the Policing Authority also showed in the first seven months of this year, there were 88 resignations among Garda members and 154 retirements.