'Not for the faint-hearted' - Garda Commissioner defends raising of age limit to 50

THE GARDA commissioner has defended plans to increase the age limit for new recruits from 35 to 50.

Drew Harris made his comments at a graduation ceremony in Templemore this Friday morning.

The maximum age for new garda recruits was 26 until 2004 when it was increased to 35. The proposed increase to 50 must be formally approved by the Cabinet before being implemented.

Responding to reporters' questions Commissioner Harris says the decision was made following a Workplace Relations Commission finding, in 2020, that an upper age limit of 35 was not proportionate and was discriminatory.

"In effect, we have taken notice of what the WRC has said and we have taken that very seriously and we have looked very closely at what the optimum age should be and we decided on 50," he said.

He added that 50 was selected to ensure that An Garda Siochana gets a return on the investment it makes in training new recruits.

"They will have to go through their training and their probation and we want, then, to get a return on that investment around being able to go out on patrol and conduct all their duties effectively and really work with the rest of us in terms of protecting the people of Ireland."

When asked about the potential for older recruits to be sick and unable to work physically, he commented: "The application process and the training is rigorous and it isn't for the faint-hearted."

After today’s passing out ceremony for 126 new recruits, another class will enter the Garda Training College on Monday.