Conference Report 2016

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
2008 to 2013 period. The contribution of the Garda
rank to this reduced expenditure is significant –
standing at over 12% in respect of overtime pay,
almost 10% in allowances and nearly 9% for salaries
for the 2009 to 2013 period. Such savings were
needed of a time and place that has now passed.
1.10 This Review should clearly understand that the
Central Executive Committee and membership of
the Association would actively reject any proposals
that constitute further reductions in garda pay or
any additional deterioration in terms and conditions
of employment. Nor will it participate in or support
any process that proposes such cuts.
1.11 However, the Association will address any
proposals and associated cost-saving measures
that do not deleteriously impact on our members’
remuneration or terms and conditions of
employment. This Association has worked to the full
extent of its powers enabling savings-related
initiatives. These include the new working time
roster (€35million) under the transformation agenda
of the Croke Park Agreement, the extra work days
provided for under the Haddington Road Agreement
(€15million), the decreased voluntary overtime
premium payment rate and the implemented
civilianisation process, all completed with a
significantly reducing staffing level.
1.12 The removal of legitimate allowances to new
recipients has proved problematic, and has created
a contentious two-tier pay structure within An
Garda Síochána. This is unjust and an anomaly that
has the potential to polarise opinion and cause
ongoing disharmony and discontent. A sustainable
recourse must be explored; and rent allowance
restored in the interim.
1.13 Independent bodies acting on behalf of the State
have long acknowledged and deferred to the
‘unique’ status and role of the police officer. Indeed,
the Desborough Committee (1919) examined the pay
and conditions of the police force – and underlined
this key feature.
1.14 It was also acknowledged by the British Oaksey
Committee (1949), by the British Royal Commission on
police pay (1962), by the Conroy Commission on the
Garda Síochána (1970), by the Sheehy report into
police responsibilities and rewards in Britain (1993),
by the Ryan Committee of Inquiry into garda pay and
conditions (1979) and by the independent United
States-based Police Executive Research Forum (1998).
1.15 This ‘unique’ status arises under a variety of
headings including the onerous and wide-ranging
responsibilities and duties of a professional police
service. A garda is obliged to act on or off-duty when
seeing an offence, assault or felony being committed.
They are also required to be responsible and
accountable for carrying out duties when not officially
on-duty. This commitment to duty is a rare obligation
in the world of work. In effect, the garda has to place
themselves on-duty in unpredictable circumstances.
1.16 It is also evident that a major difference between a
garda’s role and responsibilities compared with
other occupations is the extensive span of
knowledge required, the discretion and judgement
necessitated in varying circumstances, the
potentially fatal dangers faced. A garda is frequently
obliged to work on complex assignments over
protracted periods that may ultimately be the
subject of hostile cross-examination by senior
counsel and management.
1.17 This ‘unique’ status also surfaces from a review of a
garda’s use of ‘discretion’; an essential part of the
police officer’s role and skill set. A number of
dimensions of the work necessitate the ongoing
deployment of the ‘discretion’ competence. It is also
pertinent that the Garda rank exercises the vast
majority of the discretionary authority that the Force
possesses.
1.18 This competency is frequently deployed when
working alone and under pressure to make
decisions hastily; decisions which may be
subsequently reviewed in hindsight by senior staff,
the Garda Ombudsman, the judiciary and the media.
The demands of the job and the environment in
which it is undertaken have deteriorated. Alongside
significant crime levels, gardaí now have to contend
with more professional, armed and violent criminals
while under intense pressure from politicians and
the media for both results and greater
accountability. Between 2005 and 2010 it became
necessary to introduce personally issued anti-stab
vests, ASP batons and subsequently incapacitant
spray. These items signify punctuation marks in
Irish society.
1.19 The rise of contract killings to xenophobia with
drugs, paedophilia, human trafficking, internet
crime, corporate crime, fraud, international criminal
networks, it is readily apparent that the gardaí face
an escalating challenge in the maintenance of law
and order. This challenge is exacerbated by the
decline in the relevance of the principle of ‘policing
by consent’, as the shared set of values nurtured by
communal forces continue to decline, necessitating
the force to rely more on professionalism,
adaptability and the commitment of its members.
14 Garda Representative Association