Growing security concerns over who will replace garda commissioner

 Garda Commissioner Drew Harris is to step down from his role in September. Picture: David Creedon

There are growing national security concerns that no career garda officers will apply for the position of garda commissioner.

It follows deep unhappiness within senior ranks at how successive governments have dealt with a pension row that officers believed would be addressed.

The consequence is that these senior garda officers, including a candidate widely tipped as being the favourite to replace Drew Harris, may not apply for the position when it is eventually advertised.

Unlike the vast bulk of European countries, An Garda Síochána is both the national police and national security service and the Garda Commissioner is the ultimate boss of both sections.

There are concerns that if no career gardaí apply, the job could be filled by either an external candidate or a serving officer in An Garda Síochána who joined in recent years at a very senior level from a foreign police service.

“This is not about the quality, professionalism or integrity of any of those who joined, but An Garda Síochána is both a police and a national security service,” said one source. “In no other country would they let an outsider be the head of the national security service. None.” 

There is a fear that the Government could back itself into a corner by launching a competition for the commissioner job and only getting applications from foreign candidates who recently joined the gardaí or from an external candidate from abroad, but none from career gardaí.

“What are they going to do then?” a source asked. “Are they going to say ‘No’ to these candidates — and, if so, on what basis?” 

Pension tax

The rising concerns from a security perspective have deepened since the protracted efforts last year by the Government to fill one of two deputy commissioner positions.

The claims from career gardaí of “unfair” or “discriminatory” treatment, in terms of pension tax burdens, if they applied for the position compared to candidates who had only recently joined the organisation from another police service, marred the process.

It caused disgruntlement within senior ranks and, eventually, led to what senior officers believed were government reassurances that the pension anomaly would be addressed.

However the pension burden issue does not appear to have been since solved, leaving senior officers even more unhappy.

There are estimates that if career gardaí applied for the commissioner job they could be left with a pension bill from anywhere between €500,000 to €800,000.

“There’s an attitude now of once bitten, twice shy, and people don’t trust the Government,” a source said.

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The dismay at senior ranks has been compounded by the sudden announcement last week that Drew Harris was staying on until September. This came after repeated indications from different quarters over a significant period of time that Mr Harris was definitely leaving in June.

There was a widespread expectation that, with the eventually establishment at the start of this month of the new internal Garda Board, that the position would be advertised straight away.

But then Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan announced last week that the commissioner had agreed to an extension until September.