Garda Reserve Recruitment 2024

Correct. But with an * I suppose as they are looking for information from me from a time before I was a member which I didn't need to become a member at the time! For example, they needed a police cert from a year I was in Australia pre joining, but didn't need this for me to become a full member.

Understandable. My frustration lies in the fact that I worked as a Garda for a number of years after having been in Australia, and served with an exemplary record, but they still require the cert!

Extremely frustrating! Reached out directly to the last 2 Justice Ministers and the last 2 Garda Commissioners but no one is even willing to engage in a discussion about it.

Apparently, the 17 (intake 250 = only 17 people) who attested (the minimum needed to run and evaluate the new training model) were the top-ranked candidates from the August 2024 interview who had the cleanest, fastest vetting profiles that cleared quickly or were already in the system from earlier full-time applications.

This very first intake was deliberately fast-tracked as the pilot cohort to test the new blended training programme. They were part of a tiny, cherry-picked pilot group whose vetting happened to finish early (or was already in progress months before most applicants even reached Stage 3). Brazil, India and Pakistan (via Interpol channels) occasionally return responses in 4-8 months if there are no flags and the request is prioritised. Australia, the UK, and some EU countries are currently much slower in 2025 (AFP routinely 8-14 months). It's the luck of the backlog draw. An Irish applicant with a complicated Revenue or address history can sit for 12+ months, while a clean Brazilian file clears in 7.

The 2024 campaign (1,800+ applicants) uses a competitive OOM system, with no mention of reserve slots in regulations (S.I. No. 64/2004) or guidelines. All candidates compete equally, with diversity as a "welcoming" factor rather than a set-aside.

While full-time Garda recruitment shows increasing diversity (e.g., "White Irish" applicants dropped to 70% in 2025, 88% in 2019; Black/Asian rose to 7.2%), this is organic, driven by outreach, not quotas. Reserves follow the same model, with no separate targets.

Hope this helps with understanding.

I'm just a messenger…….

Where did that information originate out of curiosity, I would wonder if the 17 Reserve members themselves would agree that reasoning. Its been posted here multiple times, vetting backlogs just are what they are. Its nothing new, there have always been backlogs going all the way back to the very first Reserve intake just shy of 20 years ago. Reserve Recruitment and processing of same is always going to be secondary to fulltime recruitment, and that's the way it should be. Its very frustrating for anyone waiting, but your vetting will get completed.

With regard to ringing up for an update, the office can only give you what they have, there simply is no way to hurry it along. When you do get into the organisation, either as a Garda or as a Reserve Garda you will see at first hand just how under resourced some areas are. Resources are an issue across the entire public sector, despite what some members of the public think after absorbing social media crap about 'waiting for the Guards to arrive for days', or 'it took 3 hours for the ambulance to get to my Granny'.

The sheer waste of resources being deployed to calls because a neighbour doesn't like the height of the hedge next door, or an ambulance attending a hurty arm when a taxi or family lift would easily suffice is staggering.

Every A&E waiting room in the country is half full of people who do not require hospital treatment, but figure it will be quicker and cheaper than attending their local GP.

There has never been a skeleton of a cat found up a tree, but every fire officer in the country will give you their own version of the story, and again another waste of resources.

The very same members of the public then bitch and moan on the same social media platforms when there are calls for more resources, which of course costs money.

The biggest problem with the Public Sector and resources, is the Public themselves because they think all of us are on huge salaries with with big fat pensions, and spend most of our working lives doing as little as possible.

By public Sector, I include all of us, Gardai, Paramedics, Doctors, Nurses, Fire Personnel, Prison Officers, Teachers, SNA's etc etc etc.

Anyway, rant over………………….good luck with the vetting :-)

Are you a full time applicant?

Word of advice…

Do not engage "Pat"…

Look back over the last 2 pages this person has caused major upset on this forum.

AND does not represent the values of AGS.

If you look the full time members form on this . they have the very same waiting for vetting etc .

some are waiting almost 3 years for vetting.

one i was reading said waited almost 3 years and got rejected.

so all anyone can do is continue with your day jobs and family life . and check back in the odd time . and enjoy the christmas etc

Reading the comments that are posted on this can only come to one conclusion. no point at all making contact with the vetting office. you will only get the same response each time .

I do understand it's madness

Hey Fred,

Station meeting with a skipper or Inspector is normally not the end of the process.

A call from HR confirming your vetting is complete would be the next step.

Your almost there stay the course.

Thought so too, but was told that HR requested that see I the Superintendent as well. Maybe the procedure has changed?

I agree with you, I'm in the same boat.

Hi everyone,
I applied for the Garda Reserve 2024 year and completed all the stages, including interview, the medical. But not sure about vetting, because I have asked for updates and they didn't mention about the vetting, pic attach for ref I received confirmation that my medical report was successful and that my application was “under review.”

Since then, I haven’t received any updates then and no further information.

My question is:
Is this delay normal? How long does the final review or decision usually take after submitting the medical?
If anyone has been through this process recently, I’d really appreciate your advice or experience.

And they doesn't say that vetting is cleared or on process

Any advise

Thank you!

Thanks! I haven’t done the station interview with an Inspector yet. I completed my competency interview and I’m now waiting for the next stage. Hopefully they will contact soon.”

‘Major upset’…. Will you get a grip?