S.I. No. 560/2005 - Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) (Amendment) Regulations, 2005

Statutory Instruments.

S.I. No. 560 of 2005

GARDA SÍOCHÁNA (ADMISSIONS AND APPOINTMENTS) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2005

I, Michael McDowell, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 14 of the Police Forces Amalgamation Act 1925 (No. 7 of 1925), as amended by section 1 of the Garda Síochána Act 1958 (No. 14 of 1958) and adapted by the Justice (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 1997 (No. 298 of 1997), and with the approval of the Government, hereby make the following regulations:

1.        These Regulations may be cited as the Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) (Amendment) Regulations 2005.

2.        These Regulations come into operation on the 12^th day of September, 2005.

3.        In these Regulations, “Principal Regulations” means the Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments) Regulations 1988 ( S.I. No. 164 of 1988 ) as amended by S.I. No. 470 of 1997 , S.I. No. 164 of 2000 , S.I. No. 498 of 2001 and S.I. No. 749 of 2004 .

4.        Regulation 3 of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a)      by inserting the following definitions after the definition of “the Commissioner”:

“ ‘EEA Agreement’ has the same meaning as in the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1993 ;

‘EEA State’ means a state, other than a Member State, that is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;”, and

(b)      by inserting the following definition after the definition of “the Force”:

“ ‘Member State’ means a Member State of the European Communities;”.

5.        Regulation 5(1)(d) of the Principal Regulations is amended -

(a)      in clause (i) by substituting for subclauses (I) to (III) the following subclauses:

“(I)     in mathematics, a grade not lower than B3 at foundation level or not lower than D3 at a level other than foundation level,

(II)      in two languages, at least one of which must be either Irish or English, a grade not lower, in the case of Irish than C3 at foundation level or D3 at a level other than foundation level and, in the case of any other language than D3 at ordinary level, and

(III)    in not less than two other subjects, a grade not lower than D3 at ordinary level, or”,

(b)      in clause (iii) by substituting “(including mathematics and two languages at least one of which must be either Irish or English)” for “(including Irish, Mathematics and English)”, and

(c)      in clause (iv) by substituting “that includes mathematics and two languages (at least one of which must be either Irish or English)” for “that includes Irish, Mathematics and English”.

6.        Regulation 5(1) of the Principal Regulations is amended by inserting the following subparagraph after subparagraph (d):

“(dd)    the person -

(i)       is a national of a Member State, an EEA State or the Swiss Confederation,

(ii)      is entitled under section 3, 18 or 24 of the Refugee Act 1996 to the rights and privileges specified in section 3 of that Act, or

(iii)     has had a period of one year's continuous residence in the State immediately before the first day of the month in which such advertisement was first so published and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, has had a total residence in the State amounting to four years;”.

7.         Regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations is amended by inserting the following paragraph after paragraph (1):

“(1A)  A period of residence in the State shall not be counted for the purposes of determining whether a person meets the five year residency requirement of subparagraph (dd)(iii) if -

(a)      it is in contravention of section 5(1) of the Immigration Act 2004 , or

(b)      it consists of a period during which the person was entitled to remain in the State in accordance only with section 9(2) of the Refugee Act 1996, whether that period occurred before or after the amendment of that section by section 7(c)(i) of the Immigration Act 2003 .”.

8.        Regulation 14(a) of the Principal Regulations is amended by inserting “aptitudes knowledge, skills or” after “a person has special”.

The Government hereby approve the foregoing Regulations

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations make changes to the rules governing entry to An Garda Síochána.

The requirement to hold a qualification in both Irish and English in the Leaving Certificate or equivalent is being replaced with a requirement to hold a qualification in two languages, at least one of which must be Irish or English.

The Regulations provide that entry to An Garda Síochána will be open to (i) nationals of an EU Member State, an EEA State or the Swiss Confederation and (ii) nationals of any other State who are lawfully present in Ireland and have a period of five years legal residence in Ireland.

These Regulations also broaden the category of persons who may be recruited by the Commissioner under Regulation 14 of the Garda Síochána (Admissions and Appointments Regulations, 1988. The 1988 Regulations already allow the Commissioner to appoint and enrol a person where the Commissioner is satisfied that a person has special technical qualifications. These Regulations expand this category to provide for a person who has special aptitudes, knowledge, skills or technical qualifications.