Garda officers seek filling of roles

Garda superintendents have urged Minister for Justice Alan Shatter to fill more than 30 vacancies at superintendent rank, saying promotions were badly needed to shore up key positions of control in the force.

General secretary of the Association of Garda Superintendents, Pat McCabe said given the nature and seniority of the role of superintendent it was imperative that at least some of the positions be filled immediately.

“It’s a very important rank,” he said at the association's annual conference in Athlone today.

“The whole control system of An Garda Síochána, the operational control, we hold that in our hands. And we feel it’s very important that people are promoted to that rank and that we continue to deliver the service that we are delivering at the moment.”

“If you examine the role of the superintendent, they have a normal managerial role, they have an operational role and they have a role on terms of legal requirements. So there’s a fairly significant array of functions there and anyone of those at any given time can be overlooked if the superintendent isn’t in place.”

Association president Gerard P Smith echoed Supt McCabe’s remarks, saying if vacancies were not filled, undue added pressure would be put on his members, negatively impacting on their “welfare and efficiency”.

He pointed out in his conference address to Mr Shatter that his members had 12 months ago unanimously passed a motion calling on the number of posts vacant at that time to be filled.

Mr Shatter said he had recently secured Cabinet approval for a total of 33 appointments to the senior Garda ranks despite the public sector recruitment and promotions moratorium. This had included two assistant commissioners, eight chief superintendents and 23 superintendents.

While some officers have already been promoted into those positions, not all 33 approved promotions have gone ahead yet.

Mr Shatter said that more of these would follow in the near future. However, he also suggested that some of the 30 plus vacancies at superintendent rank may not need to be filled because of some reorganisation of the force’s senior posts.

“There is reorganisation going on within An Garda Síochána,” he told the media at the superintendent’s conference.

“The Garda Inspectorate is looking at how, in the context of reduced numbers within An Garda Síochána – there’s been a reduction of approximately 800 – as to what are the appropriate positions that should be filled, what changes might be made. I have absolutely no doubt there’s a need to full some key positions and I would hope we will do that within a very short period of time.”

He did not want to prejudge the work the Garda Inspectorate was undertaking, declining to say how many of the 30 vacancies would be filled.

Away from the issue of promotions and vacancies, Supt McCabe said his organisation wanted to see changes to the way the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) investigated complaints against gardai.

He appeared to agree with recent comments by Commission members that more minor complaints should be referred back to the Garda to be investigated internally, but with Gsoc oversight.

“There is a very competitive, criminal-type approach and process around any complaint; it’s written in law,” said Supt McCabe.

“Most other organisations around the world would have a human resource-type approach to issues and we believe there is a way in which that approach can be taken but it has to be fairly applied.”

Earlier, Mr Shatter hit back at grassroots Garda leaders over their outspoken attack on Defence Forces recruitment.

In a deepening fallout, Mr Shatter called on the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to reflect on “unfortunate” remarks made during its annual conference.

“I’m very conscious there’s a very good and close relationship between An Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces,” he said. “I wouldn’t like to see that relationship damaged.”

Damien McCarthy, outgoing president of the GRA, which represents more than 11,000 rank-and-file officers, criticised the Minister yesterday for continuing to recruit to the Defence Forces during a Garda staffing freeze.

“Is Ireland under attack?” he asked, at the two-day gathering at Athlone, Co Westmeath. “Is there a war we are about to join? Because we are under attack in the war on crime at home, right here in Ireland.”

Mr McCarthy also made a stinging personal attack on Mr Shatter’s record in office, branding him soft on crime.

But the Minister, speaking today at the Association of Garda Superintendents' annual conference, also in Athlone, denounced the comments as “unfortunate” and urged they not be repeated.

“I would hope that the remarks that were made wouldn’t be repeated in the future and in a calmer moment there will be some reflection on those remarks,” he added.

Mr Shatter said the Garda and Defence Forces had to work together in the interests of the State. He said any suggestion the GRA was denigrating the role of the Defence Forces was unacceptable.

Up to 600 vacancies in the Defence Forces are to be filled this year.

A Garda recruitment ban has seen numbers in the force drop 800, according to Mr Shatter.

Gerard P Smith, president of the Association of Garda Superintendents, urged the Minister to prioritise 30 empty superintendent posts.

Mr Shatter said it was important that some key vacancies in the force were filled and that he was in talks with public spending minister Brendan Howlin. “I would be optimistic that we would fill a number of these in the not too distant future,” he said.

Additional reporting: PA