The previous Garda recruiting effort, which drew almost 5,000 applications, was only ten months ago.

Following the Government's decision to raise the entrance age restriction to apply to become a Garda trainee from 35 to 50 years old, some 2,300 candidates were between the ages of 35 and 49.

Thirty-five to forty-nine percent (36.7%) of the candidates for the 2024 competition were in this age range.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris earlier stated that this campaign's raising of the entrance age restriction to 50 gave persons who felt their moment had gone or were thinking about changing careers the chance to join An Garda Síochána.

The Public Appointments Service, acting on behalf of An Garda Síochána, ended its most recent Garda recruiting competition at 3 p.m. on February 8.

The number of applications received in less than a year after the previous competition, together with the fact that over 2,000 of them were older than 35, according to a Garda spokeswoman, “confirms that interest in becoming a Garda is still high and it's a job worth doing.”

Now, candidates will face a rigorous selection procedure consisting of many phases, such as competency-based interviews (Stage 2), online aptitude tests (Stage 1), and fitness testing (Stage 3).

The goal of the yearly Garda recruiting drives is to “ensure a steady stream of Garda trainees entering the Garda College.”

According to data given by the Minister for Justice, there were 13,940 Garda personnel nationwide as of the end of October 2023.