Commission may be only way to avert Garda strike
It’s just Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald attempting to chisel her way out being stuck between a damaging rock and a hard place with the Government’s most prized possession: a commission.
Yesterday, the Tánaiste met with officials from the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors in a bid to prevent an all-out strike alongside the Garda Representatives Association on four separate days next month.
As the AGSI’s president Antoinette Cunningham passed a file containing the demand for a 16.5% pay hike across the table at the department’s office, they received a reply they were expecting. Namely ... nice words, an acceptance of the “frustration” they are facing, and a reiteration of the Government’s insistence the existing Lansdowne Road public pay deal cannot be broken for any individual group.
At face value, the situation means Ireland is facing the real prospect of all gardaí going on strike in an unprecedented move that risks the safety of communities across the country, never mind the political future of a TD rumoured to have eyes on the top job.
However, while Ms Fitzgerald would appear to have no cards to play — with officials confirming that she is not planning to make a lower counter-offer to the AGSI and has no plans to meet again with them in the near future — there is one option still available.
Although it may not be what the AGSI or GRA want, it could help to win over public opinion and, in the short term, stave off a major problem on Government’s doorstep.
While gardaí have been specifically told Lansdowne Road will not be broken for any interest group due to the risk Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe last Friday described as a “domino effect” of other pay claims, Government figures were last night emphasising a proposed public service pay commission will be set up within two weeks.
Such a move — which has always been due to happen under the deal struck with Fianna Fáil — would mean it would take until the start of next summer before any decision on Garda pay is made, helping Government to get out of a problem of its own making.
It is a far from perfect solution and has been shot down in the past by Garda figures who want pay rises now, but given the Coalition’s concern over the impact of any individual deal with public service groups, it is currently the only tool at Ms Fitzgerald’s disposal.
Whether it will be enough to convince gardaí that this time their demands really will be listened to may over the coming weeks ultimately decide how the Garda strike threat is resolved.
