The long-running Garda pay dispute came to an end last night after the Garda Representative Association signed up to a pay deal which was earlier in the day endorsed by a ballot of its members.
The settlement means that gardai will now begin to work the £55 million PULSE computer records system which has not been used since its installation last month because of industrial action in support of a Garda pay claim.
The outcome of the ballot was 4,776 (77 per cent) in favour and 1,454 (23 per cent) against. There was a 71 per cent turnout in the ballot, a higher percentage than in other recent ballots.
The deal effectively gives gardai a total pay increase in the region of 21.65 per cent over the life of the last two public service pay rounds. This involves 13.4 per cent for the Programme for Competitiveness and Work round and a further 8.2 per cent under the Partnership 2000 programme.
The deal is significantly better than that achieved in other areas of the Civil Service. It is slightly less than what nurses achieved but about the same as prison officers.
The GRA president, Mr John Healy, welcomed the ballot result, saying the deal represented the best on offer. "Given the importance of the issues involved for the future of the force it was imperative that as many gardai as possible expressed their opinions. I am delighted that this has happened."
The deal was sealed yesterday afternoon when counting closed in the ballot of the 8,000 GRA members. The GRA is the largest of the Garda staff associations.
The timing of the acceptance of the deal means gardai will receive some 18 months of a back-dated pay rise amounting to around £1,500 in their pay before Christmas.
While there was a substantial majority in favour of the deal there are still misgivings, particularly among city gardai about proposed changes to working conditions.
The deal had been rejected twice before by gardai in ballots in September and October. However, after the Government negotiators insisted there was no more money on offer, the GRA leadership recommended the deal.
According to Government sources, there was a very strong determination on the Government's behalf that the Garda pay deal would not breach the public sector pay guidelines.