Gardaí to debate need for 24-hour armed cover

Rank-and-file gardaí are questioning whether it is realistic to remain a predominantly unarmed force in the face of increased violent crime and the threat from international terrorism.

They also say there is a chronic need for additional armed cover on a 24-hour basis and for body-worn cameras to record any abuse or threats gardaí are subjected to.

Delegates at the annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which begins in Co Kerry tonight, are also set to voice anger at Government failure to restore some rates of pay.

Some members will insist that not only should pay cuts made since 2008 be restored, but that a new “city pay allowance” be introduced based on the cost of living in the city where they are stationed.

Strike threat

The annual conference in Killarney follows the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors threatening at its recent conference that members would break the law and go on strike if their pay is not restored.

The GRA is normally more vocal and militant. It represents 10,500 rank-and-file gardaí in a force of nearly 13,000.

Representatives from the Dublin Metropolitan Region (DMR) East division as well as those from the DMR North and Kildare divisions have tabled motions demanding an end to so-called yellow-pack policing.

This involves gardaí now entering the force being paid less than colleagues who joined before October 2013, when the lower pay grades were introduced.

Allowance call

The call for the city allowance to help members cope with the higher cost of living has been tabled by delegates representing DMR South.

They say that, for the purposes of setting the new allowances, the CSO would decide the difference in the cost of living in all Irish cities.

Other motions, tabled by delegates from Cavan-Monaghan, Donegal and DMR East, want the GRA to call on Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald and Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan "to immediately address the chronic lack of 24-hour armed cover and frontline" gardaí nationwide.

Representatives of the Donegal Garda division want the conference to debate “whether it is realistic to maintain the concept of An Garda Síochána as an unarmed force in an era of rising violent crime and the threat of international terrorism”.

Other motions call for more continuous professional development for gardaí, and for senior officers who block or fail to provide such opportunities to be disciplined.

There will also be a call for any garda working any period of overtime on a day off to be paid a minimum of five hours overtime rather than three.