After 'difficult negotiations' Gardaí to be balloted on pay proposals

President of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Antoinette Cunningham, said the proposals “are the best that could have been achieved during these challenging negotiations”. Photo: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie

Garda representative associations will ballot their members in the coming weeks on the latest public sector pay proposals, which were described by one union head as “going some way” to meeting the cost-of-living challenges currently facing members.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors has held a meeting of its executive committee to discuss the proposals, with the “ultimate decision” on whether to accept it now lying with members.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), meanwhile, has convened a meeting of its Central Executive Committee this Thursday and said  “significant progress” had been made.

After protracted pay talks, the offer from the Government is a 3% pay increase backdated to February of this year, a further 2% at the beginning of next March, and finally either a 1.5% or €750 - whichever figure is greater - increase coming on stream in October 2023.

This would be in addition to a 1% or €500 rise due to be applied at the start of October 2022 which was previously agreed under the last public sector pay deal, Building Momentum.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said in a statement it had concluded negotiations on behalf of its membership in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the Workplace Relations Commission. A meeting of its national executive was convened a short time later to consider the proposals.

Echoing the sentiments of ICTU’s Kevin Callinan, AGSI general secretary Antoinette Cunningham said the proposals “are the best that could have been achieved during these challenging negotiations”.

“AGSI members will have the ultimate decision to make when a ballot is conducted in the coming weeks.

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“We have seen inflation continue to rise, and we are fully aware of the financial pressures that our members are under and the challenging economic environment we are in. These proposals will go some way to meeting those challenges.” 

Ms Cunningham also thanked the WRC for its assistance in reaching the proposals in what she described as a “difficult and challenging environment”.

The GRA had previously indicated its support for further pay talks given recent hikes in inflation.

In a statement, interim general secretary, Philip McAnenly, said: “We called for this review back in April of this year following a significant increase in the cost of living due to spiralling inflation which has greatly impacted the lives of our members and their ability to earn a fair and equitable wage.

“Following a lengthy session of robust and difficult negotiations, there was significant progress made.” He added that a specially convened meeting of its central executive committee would be held later this week to consider and discuss the proposals.