Still time to solve Garda roster row, McEntee says as roster row heads towards action

There is still time for the Garda Commissioner and representative associations to “double down” and find a solution to the protracted roster dispute as rank-and-file members prepare to begin rejecting overtime hours, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has said.

The Minister reiterated her position that she would not intervene in the dispute in which tensions have deepened between Commissioner Drew Harris and the Garda Representative Association (GRA).

Members are due to withdraw their services from voluntary overtime next week with no indication of a breakthrough in the standoff.

“There are meetings happening this week so it’s not right to say that nobody’s engaging and nobody’s talking,” Ms McEntee said on Monday.

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Mr Harris will meet separately this week with the Garda Representative Association, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Superintendents and the Chief Superintendents.

Ms McEntee said the shared agenda was to establish an agreeable rostering system separate from the current Covid roster and previous rosters.

“Despite the fact that there will be challenges in the weeks ahead the Garda Commissioner has assured me that there will still be a full compliment of gardai. There will be enough members to continue doing the work that they do every day,” she said.

“There is time here to negotiate, to double down, to try and find the solution and that is a new roster.”

She added that she was encouraging all parties to continue discussions because “the alternative here is that I would as minister intervene and direct what rosters should be in place”.

“We’ve moved away from that type of policing, we should never be in a situation where the minister of the day is telling gardaí where and when and how they should be working. It’s not something that should be done,” she said.

Brendan O’Connor of the Garda Representative Association earlier told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that his organisation is committed to finding “a resolution to this impasse”, specifying that a proposed interim roster “doesn’t work” according to an independent analysis.

“We didn’t have the personnel to go back to it last November when we had 300 more personnel than we have now,” he said. “So it’s slightly illogical to insist on imposing this on our members and not just asking what we’re asking for, which is a deferral. That’s all, a deferral to allow the process to move forward.”