Gardaí expected to demand pay rises

GARDAÍ are expected to demand pay rises as part of any agreement to implement the proposed overhaul of the force.

The blueprint for the restructuring of An Garda Síochána is set to result in lengthy, and possibly stormy negotiations between garda staff associations and the Department of Justice.

The bulk of the force, from inspectors down to gardaí on the beat, are thought to be in little mood for the radical overhaul, following what they consider as poor pay rises recommended in the benchmarking report.

The report gave pay increases of 5% to ordinary gardaí and 6% to sergeants and inspectors, compared to rises of 16% for superintendents and 16.1% for chief superintendents. In addition, gardaí are sore at refusals by the Department of Justice to issue more defensive and protective equipment to gardaí in the face of increasing violence on the streets.

Gardaí point to crime figures released last week which showed a 93% increase in assaults in 2001 to back up their case.

Given this, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors are likely to have a very difficult job in trying to sell the package to their members.

The Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) is outlined in a series of 12 reports, drawn up by outside consultants.

Implementation of SMI is seen as a mammoth job and Government-appointed consultants have already said it will take between three to five years.

One of the key reports deals with the force’s structures and recommends major changes to the management and administrative hierarchy, including that:

* The number of garda regions be reduced from seven to six.

* The number of divisions be cut from 25 to 21 or 20.

* The number of districts be cut from 109 to at least 89, or at most 77.

The blueprint recommends that a significant number of stations in Dublin have their opening hours cut, particularly where stations are close to district headquarters. Divisional and district headquarters will remain open on a 24-hour basis, the report says.

The opening hours of affected stations has yet to be determined, but will vary from eight to 16 hours every day.

The objective is to free up gardaí doing administrative work for operational duties.

Garda staff associations are also likely to be concerned about the fate of district clerks, some of whom are in their 50s and have not worked on the streets for 20 years.

The structure’s report also outlines significant changes in the reporting and command structures within garda headquarters in Phoenix Park and between it and the specialist national bureaus and units.

Over the next month, garda representatives will study the 12 documents and engage in negotiations in September.