The PSNI is on target to meet its objective of 30 per cent Catholic recruitment by 2010, the service said yesterday.
This is despite revealing that 99 trainees and constables had left the PSNI since it was established in November 2001. The figure represents less than 4 per cent of all 2,482 students accepted for training.
Statistics released by the service show that 72 Catholics left over the past five years. The bulk of those were student recruits and only seven were "attested" constables, meaning that they had affirmed commitment to the PSNI's codes.
A spokeswoman for the PSNI told The Irish Times last night that exit interviews with those leaving had revealed a range of motives.
However, some trends were emerging. A majority cited personal reasons for deciding to quit, with the next largest groups blaming failure to meet training requirements, and pressure from family or community sources.
The PSNI said "a small number" had been advised about their personal safety in light of threats posed by those opposed to the new policing arrangements, including dissident republican groups.
Under the Patten recommendations for the new service, recruits for training are accepted on a 50:50 Catholics/Others basis, with the intention of raising Catholic involvement to just under one-third by 2010.
The police service continues to attract many more applications than it has student training places.
In the most recent recruitment drive, 7,859 applicants applied for just 220 vacancies. There are now 1,574 Catholics in the PSNI, representing some 20.8 per cent of the overall service of more than 7,500.
The service is also committed to raising the numbers of female recruits.