Pitiful equipment, low morale and increased assaults to dominate GRA conference

(Left to right) Ronan Slevin, Interim Deputy General Secretary, Frank Thornton, GRA President and Brendan O’Connor, GRA Vice President ahead of the 44th annual GRA Delegates Conference. The strength of the force is around 14,000 whereas it should be up to the same level as Scotland's - 17,243. Picture: Conor Ó Mearáin

Garda equipment is “pitiful”, morale is very low, assaults on members of the force are increasing and there isn’t the required nationwide level of manpower to provide the public a proper service.

These issues and calls for improved pay and conditions are set to dominate the annual two-day Garda Representative Association (GRA) conference which gets underway in Westport, Co. Mayo, tomorrow.

GRA president Frank Thornton said low morale and increasing workloads forced nearly 100 gardaí to resign from the force last year and he expects “that trend will continue". Meanwhile, up to 400 are expected to retire alone this year and only 200 recruits will pass out of Templemore to replace them.

GRA vice president Brendan O’Connor said the strength of the force should be that of Scotland’s, where there are 17,243 officers. Instead, it's around 14,000 here and shows no sign of reaching the 15,000 committed to by government.

Brendan O'Connor added that the technology gardaí work with is both "pitiful" and "around three decades off what it should be". Mr Thornton said the GRA’s calls for extra personnel and resources are falling on deaf ears, and more gardaí are suffering from mental health issues because of increasing job demands.

Around 160 delegates attending the GRA’s 44th annual conference will hear calls to launch a campaign to get their subsistence and travel allowances restored to pre-FEMPI levels of 2008 and that in future they be brought in line with the Consumer Price Index.

Delegates will also ask their officials to prepare a submission to the Department of Justice seeking to have their pay increased to take into account the increasing dangers they face on the job and increasing workloads imposed on them by new statutory and regulatory functions.

The GRA is also seeking to expedite claims at conciliation relating to specialist units, such as the Garda National Computer Crime Bureau, Emergency Response Units, Armed Response Units and Road Traffic Collision Investigators.

A motion set to be debated calls for the retirement age for frontline gardaí to be increased to 65. It is in response to the increasing number who were 30-plus-year-olds when they joined the force so they can complete 20-years reckonable service for pension purposes.

Safety concerns

A debate is set to take place on the increasing number of assaults on frontline personnel. A motion related to this calls on the garda authorities to provide training in self-defence to all gardaí, and where training can’t be provided by garda experts themselves, that outside experts be brought in to carry it out.

The withdrawal in some garda districts of Ford Transit Connect Vans has led to further safety fears for gardaí. The vans contained a ‘cage’ in the back, which secured prisoners while they were being taken to garda stations where there are custody cells.

However, no similar ‘secure’ transport is available in some areas and, as a result, gardaí there have been forced to use ordinary patrol cars.

The GRA will demand that Commissioner Drew Harris immediately moves to ensure all patrol cars are retrofitted with security screens that separate front and back seats.