Gardaí criticise Anglesea Street station IT upgrade during level 5 restrictions

Padraig Harrington, GRA representative for Cork City said: 'Our members have a huge issue with outside electrical contractors being brought in to carry out this work during the level-5 restrictions.'

Gardaí in Cork have criticised Garda management for "showing a complete lack of respect for the health of workers on the ground", after allowing electrical and IT work at Anglesea Street station under level 5 restrictions.

The work, to allow for the installation of a new IT system, was sanctioned as "essential" and approved by the Office of Public Works, Garda management said.

But the Garda Representative Association believes installing the new system, called Roster Duty Management System (RDMS) is not essential, and neither is the installation of lighting for "greening" the station for St Patrick's Day. 

Padraig Harrington, GRA representative for Cork City said: "Our members have a huge issue with outside electrical contractors being brought in to carry out this work during the level-5 restrictions.

Gardaí have been complying with all the guidelines relating to level 5 restrictions, for instance operating within ‘work bubbles’ of two to four people to limit the risk of infecting whole units. If they didn't, they would face internal discipline."

Mr Harrington said at a time when the Government and Nphet are urging people to limit their social contacts, Garda management "is showing a complete lack of respect for the health of members on the ground".

Garda management is "also willing to take a chance on an outbreak occurring in a station and as a result, creating a greater risk of members infecting the wider community because our work involves so much interaction with the general public", he said.

"Nothing hinges on these works except timelines senior management have given to the Policing Authority to comply with the recommendations contained within COFPI [Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland]."

RDMS, the new clocking-in and personnel tracking system, is required to be used in all police divisions by the Policing Reform Programme, based on recommendations by the COFPI.

The installation of data points and related work for the new system was carried out this week in Anglesea Street. RDMS is due to be rolled out to all 16 stations in Cork city by the end of the month.

The GRA said the system takes at least three months before it is fully operational.