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The Government has today made appointments to the positions of Chief
Superintendent and Superintendent in An Garda Síochána. Ten appointments
have been approved to Chief Superintendent and 18 to Superintendent.

The appointments are required to fill existing vacancies at National,
Divisional and District level.

Note to editors

The appointments are to existing vacancies at the rank of Chief
Superintendent which has an approved complement of 45 and to Superintendent
which has an approved complement of 166. They arise from a combination of
promotions and retirements over the last two years.

The appointees were selected following the holding of competitive
interviews in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Garda
Síochána (Promotions) Regulations 2006.

The Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act
2015 makes provision for the Policing Authority to appoint persons to the
senior ranks of An Garda Síochána. The relevant provision will be commenced
once amendments to the regulations governing promotions within An Garda
Síochána have been completed and the Policing Authority is in a position to
conduct competitions.

The main regulations concerned are the Garda Síochána (Promotion)
Regulations 2006. In accordance with the Garda Síochána Act 2005, the Garda
Commissioner and the Policing Authority must be consulted on any proposed
changes to regulations. In addition, the Garda representative bodies must
be consulted in accordance with the Garda Conciliation and Arbitration
Scheme.

The Garda Commissioner has recently stated that these were critical
vacancies that needed to be filled as quickly as possible to ensure the
appropriate leadership capacity of the organisation.