The Government has today made appointments to the positions of Assistant Commissioner, Chief Superintendent and Superintendent in An Garda Síochána.
One appointment has been approved to the position of Assistant Commissioner, three appointments have been approved to Chief Superintendent and seven to Superintendent.
The appointments are required to fill existing vacancies at National, Divisional and District level.
Speaking after today’s Cabinet meeting the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald said:
“Since September there have been a number of mainly voluntary retirements from the senior ranks of An Garda Síochána.”
“The Government is determined that there is no undue delay filling critical Garda vacancies and is determined to ensure that An Garda Síochána has a leadership team that can address the serious challenges it faces every day in maintaining law and order.”
“So having consulted with the Garda Commissioner, I proposed to Government that the 8 existing vacancies in the senior ranks be filled immediately and the Government has decided to make those appointments as well as a further three consequential appointments.”
“These appointments are within the agreed strength of the Employment Control Framework and the Policing Authority has been consulted on them.”
“The establishment of the Policing Authority represents one of the most significant and progressive reforms to the sector over recent years. We are absolutely committed to the Authority assuming its functions in relation to senior appointments. The intention is to bring the Regulations to Government for approval in December and that the Authority will take over the appointment function by 1 January. Once this is done it will be a matter for the Authority to undertake its own selection competitions for appointments to these ranks.”
Note to editors
· The appointments are to existing vacancies at the rank of Assistant Commissioner which has an approved complement of eight, to Chief Superintendent which has an approved complement of 45 and superintendent which has an approved complement of 166. The vacancies are of recent origin and arise in the main from retirements and promotions.
· 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 made by Government. This work is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
· 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.