Gardaí must 'think very carefully' before pay protests

SALARY CUTS:MINISTER FOR Justice Dermot Ahern has said there is "very little scope for manoeuvre" in relation to Garda demands for a reversal to their pay cuts.

Reacting to calls from the AGSI for a reversal of the cuts, Mr Ahern said the Government was reducing its expenditure by €4 billion this year and €3 billion in 2011. This meant many people would be “hit in the pocket”.

He also said AGSI and other ranks within the Garda needed to “think very carefully” before embarking on any work-to-rule in protest at pay cuts.

The public had always supported the Garda, and nothing should be done by any member of the force that would “diminish that long-held support”.

However, he believed the force was “disciplined”, and that the various Garda representative bodies understood the consequences of any such action.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank-and-file members of the force, has begun a protest action by instructing its members not to use their personal equipment, such as laptop computers and phones, for Garda business.

AGSI president Dan Hanley last night used his opening address at the conference in Galway to warn his members not to use their personal equipment for work.

A number of delegates have also tabled motions to be debated today and tomorrow asking that Agsi outline to all sergeants and inspectors their work-to-rule options in the event they decide to embark on such an action.

Members of the Garda are banned by law from striking, meaning low-level protest actions,such as refusing to use their own equipment and work-to-rule measures, are their only options in demonstrating against pay cuts.

Mr Ahern rejected suggestions by Mr Hanley that higher public servants had received preferential treatment from the Government by having their bonuses factored into their pay cut.

He said those who earned most had lost more money than lower-paid public sector workers. If bonuses had not been factored in the burden on higher public servants would have been “grossly unfair”.

“They would have had the type of cut that Ministers and the Taoiseach have taken; way in excess of anyone else in the public service.”

In response to calls from AGSI for clearer laws around a homeowner’s right to protect themselves from intruders, Mr Ahern said a recent Supreme Court ruling set out that  homeowners could use “reasonable force”. He would soon be introducing legislation to enshrine this into law.

He also rejected criticism by Labour’s spokesman on justice, Pat Rabbitte, who over the weekend said no convictions had been secured against gang members under new covert surveillance and juryless court provisions enacted last July.

Mr Ahern said it would take the Garda time to prepare cases under the new laws. Anybody who did not understand that either did not understand how the legislation worked or was “speaking tongue in cheek”.

Mr Rabbitte also produced figures that revealed that of the 193 gun murders committed since 1998, just 23 had resulted in convictions.

Mr Ahern said fighting gangland crime was a Garda priority, but that gun murder investigations were often hampered by witnesses being intimidated or being too fearful to supply information.