The move follows 22 hours of intense negotiations at the Workplace Relations Commission across the weekend.

The Defence Forces strength in numbers has been in decline in recent years and fell below 7,500 last year.

There is a clear preference for hybrid working models among Irish workers.

Only half (34 per cent) of employers hiring underqualified employees are willing to invest in the training required to bring them up to scratch.

A combination of resignations, retirements and smaller than expected classes entering the Garda College has resulted in two years of post-pandemic Garda recruitment making little progress.

Superintendent Liam Geraghty said those who fail the Garda fitness test are mostly in the younger age bracket

The new recruitment drive closes in February