Conference Report 2016

CENTRAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORT
passed. These savings were emergency measures
and have had a negative impact on the quantity and
quality of policing. The reduction of garda numbers
from 14,500 in 2010 to the current 12,000 available
frontline officers has reduced the contingency to
police by 5.3million policing hours each year. This is
damaging to the economy and detrimental to the
public.
2.23 The ‘Haddington Road’ hours this year facilitated
fewer hours because of the reduction in garda
numbers, some 360,000 hours. This seriously
cannot replace the number of hours lost by the
reduction of 2,500 gardaí. This is a perilous gamble
with public safety and a disproportionate burden on
our membership.
PART ThREE: uNIQuE NATuRE Of ThE GARDA’S
jOb
3.1 The arbiter of the Review is in a long and honourable
tradition of august authorities that have long
acknowledged the unique status of the police force.
Independent bodies acting on behalf of the state
have long deferred to this ‘unique’ status and role of
the police officer.
3.2 In 1919 the Desborough Committee examined the pay
and conditions of the police force and underlined this
feature. 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 (in 1970), by the
Sheehy report into (British) police responsibilities
and rewards (1993) and by the Ryan Committee of
Inquiry into Garda pay and conditions (1979).
3.3 The ‘unique’ status is substantiated under a wide
range of headings. This can encompass wideranging
ramifications of such occupational hazards
revealed in the rejection of gardaí from individual
income protection plans of insurance companies;
the health and accident risk associated with the
occupation is considered to be too great for the
underwriters to accept.
3.4 Gardaí are subject to triple jeopardy through the
Garda Discipline Regulations, from the actions of
the Garda Síochána Ombudsman’s Commission
(GSOC) and through the criminal justice system.
3.5 Gardaí are uniquely subject to the most unusual and
onerous of obligations even while off-duty.
3.6 This unique dimension is sharply reflected in that
the Association has been excluded from
negotiations and consultations of the trade union
movement. There is also another range of
substantive features that serve to distinguish
Garda rank members of An Garda Síochána from
their colleagues, other public servants and private
sector workers.
what is a Garda?
3.7 Popular perceptions and common misconceptions
about the role of the garda are frequently framed by
the range of ‘soundbite’ media presentations,
together with the public’s limited exposure to the
rank in the course of daily life. Hence, it is
appropriate that this Review acknowledges the
demands, diversity and complexity associated with
the unique job of the serving garda.
3.8 The Garda Síochána Act (2005, section 7) provides
that the function of the Garda Síochána is to provide
policing and security services for the State with the
objectives of:
• preserving peace and public order
• protecting life and property
• vindicating the human rights of each individual
• protecting the security of the State
• preventing crime
• bringing criminals to justice, including by
detecting and investigating crime
• regulating and controlling road traffic and
improving road safety
3.9 Section 16 of the same enactment provides that on
appointment each member of the Garda Síochána
must make a declaration before a Peace
Commissioner as follows:
I hereby solemnly and sincerely declare before God
that:
I will faithfully discharge the duties of a member of
the Garda Síochána with fairness, integrity, regard
for human rights, diligence and impartiality,
upholding the Constitution and the laws and
according equal respect to all people.
While I continue to be a member, I will to the best of
my skill and knowledge discharge all my duties
according to law, and I do not belong to, and will not
while I remain a member, belong to or subscribe to,
any political party or secret society whatsoever.
22 Garda Representative Association