GRA: Deal is €4k-€5k extra for frontline gardaí

The bulk of frontline gardaí should earn between €3,980 and €5,100 extra a year under the Labour Court deal, according to a financial analysis by the Garda Representative Association.

It estimates new recruits, currently starting on a salary of €23,000, will receive between €7,400 and €8,600 extra a year under the offer.

The five-page analysis is to assist gardaí in their vote when the ballot is sent out to its 10,330 members this Friday, with a return date of December 5.

It was published alongside a 10-page document setting out reasons for voting either yes or no.

The GRA central executive committee was unable to recommend the deal last week, reflecting the split within the body regarding both the offer and the decision to defer strike action.

The GRA document, ‘Labour Court recommendations: Summary of key financials’, breaks down the increases across three pay scales and four different work rosters.

With an acceptance of the deal, the increases would commence in two phases, kicking in next January and the remainder by September.

According to the GRA analysis, the deal proposes five sets of increases.

The first is a rent allowance of €4,655 for new recruits (from 2014) and €500 for longer-serving gardaí (those hired pre-1995 and between 1995 and 2013).

The second raises allowances (for unsocial hours, night duty, Sundays, and bank holidays) that arise from the rent allowance being incorporated into pay.

The third is an allowance for pre-tour briefings and the fourth relates to a new annual leave-related premium of €510.

Point five is a basic rate increase of €1,000 under the Lansdowne Road agreement and, also, increases in allowances that arise from the basic pay increase.

The document applies these increases across three pay scales and four rosters:

• Core roster: Projected annual increases of €8,640 for new recruits, circa €5,093 for those hired post-1995 and €5,106 for those hired pre-1995;
• Non-core roster: Annual increases of €8,521, circa €4,974 and €4,987, respectively;
• District Detective Unit roster: Annual increases of €8,371, €4,824, and €4,837, respectively;
• 9-5 roster: Annual increases of €7,402, €3,965, and €3,981, respectively

The document estimates additional overtime payments of around €5 per hour across the rosters and pay scales. It says the increases will result in a rise of €2,250 in the retirement gratuity across all categories.

A second document sets out 53 reasons for voting yes and 23 for voting no. It points out that the Labour Court is the “court of last resort” and, if the offer is rejected, it will be removed.

Against the deal, it says the GRA could “continue with industrial action and seek a better deal” and that the GRA had called for “full restoration now”.

It says the pre-tour briefing will involve working 15 minutes extra before each shift, bringing the working week to 41 hours.

The payment for this, ranging from €1,548 to €1,911 per year, makes up a significant part of the overall pay increases.