Commissioner rejects claims gardaí could be dismissed over debts

GARDA RULES:GARDA COMMISSIONER Fachtna Murphy has dismissed claims by gardaí that they could be sacked if they fail to discharge debts such as mortgages because their pay had been cut.

Mr Murphy said Garda rules around dismissing members over debt default did not refer to individual members falling behind with their mortgages because of financial difficulties, as the Garda Representative Association had claimed.

“The issue that I’ve heard reported, that people could lose their jobs because they got into debt, that’s laughable from my perspective,” Mr Murphy told reporters at the association’s annual conference in Limerick.

“To think the commissioner of the day would sack anybody because their mortgage wasn’t being paid due to financial circumstances.

“What we’re talking about there is people wilfully incurring debt in the full knowledge they are doing it dishonestly, not in terms of a recession when people, through certain circumstances, can’t pay their mortgage. I want to put the lie to that comment.”

Mr Murphy was reacting to comments made by general secretary of the association PJ Stone that recent pay cuts were causing severe financial difficulties for young gardaí with large mortgages. Mr Stone claimed that under Garda rules, gardaí who were unable to pay their mortgages could lose their jobs as a result.

He called for a relaxation of rules that prohibited gardaí taking part-time jobs, such as driving taxis or working as doormen or barmen. He also said gardaí were under such financial pressure that they risked falling into corruption.

Mr Murphy said: “Such rhetoric does a grave disservice to the honest, hard-working men and women who are members of An Garda Síochána.” He was confident the Garda’s principles would not be compromised.

“In my 40 years in An Garda Síochána very few cases have arisen in relation to financial corruption within the Garda. It would be doing a disservice to our young people to say they’re open to corruption. They’re going through hard times; so is everybody. We need to look to the future, to a bright future. We’ve gotten through hardships before and we’ll do it again.”

Mr Murphy said there were good reasons for prohibiting members taking certain part-time jobs.