Health and safety, not overtime, the issue

WITH reference to Michael O’Farrell’s article on the proposed garda reserve (Irish Examiner, February 25), he states: ‘Members of the force must also fear overtime will be cut considerably.’

I would like to make the point that for the past decade at every GRA AGM, the Garda Representative Association has called for an optimum number survey - ie, more gardaí to police a growing population and more members retiring early. We would hardly be calling for more gardaí if our members were worried about a cut in overtime.

Health and safety issues of both our members and the public are more important here and we believe the garda reserve will be in contravention of the Health and Safety Act on a number of grounds, not least the call for a full-time member to supervise the safety of another untrained member.