A major Garda recruitment campaign kicks off this week, with the force aiming to recruit more than 1,000 new members.

The campaign will run for three weeks starting this Friday.

The force aims to carry out around 400 interviews a month to fill the positions, with four batches of 225 recruits to be taken in throughout the year.

That is in addition to the 200 recruits who are already in training at Templemore.

The interim Justice Minister Simon Harris will update Cabinet on the recruitment drive later today.

The force has been seriously struggling with recruitment and retention in recent years, with stations all over the country experience a drop in numbers.

The GRU has warned that recruitment and retention in the force is at “crisis levels,” while the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) warning that a career in the Gardaí is no longer attractive to young people.

There have even been calls for the Garda fitness test to be made easier to attract more recruits, while the need for two languages was dropped in 2021.