Gardaí should be wary about alienating public in cutbacks battle

GOOD gardaí gather evidence before coming to conclusions in doing their jobs.

They try as best they can too to put emotion aside in piecing together a picture and making their case. That’s what gets results. So apply that to the Garda campaign against the imposition of further income cuts implied by the negotiations in the second Croke Park Agreement for the public sector. Good gardaí might be wondering if their representatives are allowing emotion to cloud their judgement, if they are assessing the situation properly, as they fulminate against further cost cutting in the force.

The current issue of the Garda Review, for example, carries a piece by its associate editor — not a garda — that argues that the “Government is hell bent on destroying one of Europe’s most respected police forces”. Some gardaí may believe that the Government’s actions might lead to this, but surely it cannot attribute that motivation to the Government: why would a Government want to destroy the police force? That makes no sense at all, implying that the Government is made up of some class of anarchists. Maybe it would lead some gardaí to consider just how serious the Government’s financial position must be if it is considering such unpopular measures that will have serious political consequences for it.

As protests begin and threats of unofficial industrial action — up to and including the withdrawal of services by way of the so-called “blue flu”, where gardaí all go sick at the same time — intensify, gardaí have to be careful that they do not lose the sympathy and support of the public.

There is considerable understanding in the public for the job done by most gardaí. They provide an essential public service and it can be a very dangerous job. The recent foul murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe emphasised this; the only limited consolation to the force might have been the genuine show of support offered in the aftermath of the murder. Many other gardaí have died while performing their duties, having put themselves in harm’s way to protect the public.

It is a job that involves working unsocial hours — and the new roster system introduced in recent months seems to have added to this — and requires a degree of sensitivity and empathy. Imagine how difficult it must be to arrive at a parent’s house to reveal that their child has been killed in a car crash for example? Fortunately, these things may not happen regularly, but they can happen.

Their visibility is also important to many citizens. To those who are nervous or fearful about their security there can be few more reassuring sights than a garda walking on their street or road, or a patrol car passing by. In the event of something happening — such as a break-in to your home — the speedy arrival of a garda is comforting, even if there may be little that can be done to put things right. My family and I have had personal experience of that and the thoughtfulness and support of the gardaí involved has been appreciated greatly.

It hardly seems fair to cut the income of such valuable people. Garda representatives have reacted furiously to the prospect. The Government wants the pay bill of the force reduced by 6% — or about €18m annually from a total cost of €955m — but as it does not want the numbers on the force to drop below 13,000 — for political reasons as much as anything else — it means the share per member is slated to drop.

Gardaí say they have done enough and can give no more. A couple of years ago they campaigned on the basis of having suffered five pay cuts. On examination, it turned out they were adding the public sector pay cuts, pension levy and income tax rises together, conflating income cuts with pay cuts and ignoring that every other public servant had suffered a similar number of income reductions.

They argued that many gardaí were struggling with their bills and mortgages. That was not denied, but so are many other people. And this is where the gardaí have to be careful in seeking support: they may serve in special positions and may be essential public services, but they cannot campaign on the basis that they are some sort of elite who deserve special treatment compared to other public servants.

Already it seems that some of the unions engaged in the Croke Park talks are seriously annoyed by those who are outside of the process, and who are refusing to engage, and who seem to be claiming some kind of privileged status, on the basis that their job is somehow superior.

Gardaí and other frontline workers may feel unappreciated, but other unions say they are not being asked to take disproportionate pain as the Government attempts to rein in the cost of a public sector it cannot afford. Gardaí are being asked to work an hour longer each day for the same pay and to agree a reduction on the allowances and overtime. What is so unfair about that? Myriad allowances create the impression, rightly or wrongly, of some feather-bedding. For example, the idea of a so-called “twilight duty” additional payments for those working between 6pm and 8pm may not impress some people, and the same might apply to the idea of double payments for Sundays and Good Friday.

But there are good reasons for many of the allowances. They recognise the irregular hours and duties performed by gardaí, those that are often not performed by other public servants. This is why the gardaí wish to protect them, especially as many members have come to depend up on them as part of their annual income and had factored them in as permanent income when they entered financial commitments.

HOWEVER, it is also becoming fairly clear that those who are not frontline workers are being asked to take their own pain, that what is being demanded of the gardaí may not necessarily be disproportionate. We await evidence. The gardaí cannot get it because, although not technically and legally allowed to be represented at the talks by trade unions, they have declined to have their representatives in attendance.

From today more than 11,000 rank-and-file gardaí will refuse to use personal cars, phones or laptops for official use. You have to have some sympathy with this: they should not be required to use such items; they should be supplied to them. PJ Stone, of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), denied officers are breaking the law by this move and he has insisted that it will not disrupt policing. We’ll see.

I can’t imagine that there are many who would want to see Garda income cut further. It is not really relevant to argue that the police forces in other countries are not paid as well; they don’t have the costs of living that apply in Ireland and have not entered into commitments such as mortgages that many serving gardaí have. Indeed, there is a strong argument that cutting public sector pay across the board may help the Government to move towards balancing the books, but that it will have a depressive effective in the moribund domestic economy.

That is an argument that can be made in favour of all public servants. But talk of exempting one set of public servants from others, if cuts still have to be made, is not necessarily going to serve that particular intended beneficiary well. And it will be very difficult to repair the image of the gardaí if anything goes seriously wrong in the event of industrial action in pursuit of what some might come to see as privilege.

*The Last Word with Matt Cooper is broadcast on 100-102 Today Fm, Monday to Friday, 4.30pm to 7pm.