A total of 37 Garda reserves were appointed last year against an annual target of 380 new recruits for the voluntary role, according to An Garda Síochána’s annual report for 2025.Despite a previous Government commitment to increase the strength of the Garda Reserve to 1,000 by 2026, there were 308 serving as of December 31st last year, down from 319 in 2024.Published on Wednesday afternoon, the annual report noted the 37 newly appointed reserves were “below the organisation’s stated ambition” and represented 9.74 per cent of the planned intake.The unpaid role sees reserves placed in communities where they work to assist gardaí with local patrols and crime reduction initiatives. They also assist in policing major incidents and events, traffic management and carry out administrative duties.In 2024, then minister for justice Helen McEntee set a target to reach at least 1,000 reserves by 2026, tripling the maximum tax-free stipend paid to reserves to €3,000 before recruitment drives.“While this level of recruitment reflects the early stages of a multiyear expansion programme, it also highlights the need for continued focus on attracting, selecting and onboarding suitable candidates for this important voluntary policing role,” the report says.Separately, there were 14,425 gardaí serving at the end of 2025 against an ongoing target to reach 15,000.Some 619 trainees were attested last year, though the number of gardaí has failed to reach the peak of 14,750 achieved in March 2020.However, in a foreword to the annual report, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said two recruitment campaigns last year attracted more than 11,000 applications, which “provided us with a strong pipeline of candidates into 2026”.“We will continue to review the Garda recruitment process along with expansion of the Garda College and alternative training options as we seek to grow to 15,000 gardaí and more in the coming years,” he said.The report notes that demands on policing in 2026 will “continue to be stretched due to traditional public order duties and the escalating complexities of transnational organised crime and cybercrime”.“These challenges are compounded by persistent resource constraints which will be amplified by the hosting of the EU presidency and which will require significant diversion of Garda resources to ensure security and event management,” it says.The report also notes that a number of global security challenges, including state-on-state conflict, hostile state activity and transnational terrorism, have the potential to “impact directly and indirectly on Ireland’s national security”.Kelly, who took over from former Garda commissioner Drew Harris last year, said there were “significant operational challenges” throughout 2025, including an increase in protest activity that “turned violent on a number of occasions”.A “key focus” last year was increasing uniform visibility, he said, adding that the introduction of high-visibility patrols in Dublin city centre in March has been a “significant success”.Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the patrols, which are now also in operation in Cork and Limerick, had a “positive impact on crime levels”, saying there was a 23 per cent drop in theft and a 33 per cent reduction in robbery from the person.Assaults causing harm were also down by 18 per cent, he said.O’Callaghan said recruitment of gardaí will be “vitally important” to support further planned high-visibility patrols in other areas this year.Noting that just under 800 trainees entered the Garda College last year, he said this was the highest number since 2018.“With the existing pipeline of applicants, and as the rate of recruitment continues apace, we will soon see the largest ever number of gardaí working in the State,” he said.