Ireland

Nearly 100 gardaí and prison staff are currently suspended, new official figures show

Ministers reveal personnel at Department of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Office of Public Works also facing disciplinary investigations

Nearly 100 gardaí and Irish Prison Service personnel are currently suspended pending disciplinary proceedings, new official figures show. Photograph: Alan Betson/The Irish Times

Martin Wall
Mon May 13 2024 - 20:23

Nearly 100 gardaí and Irish Prison Service (IPS) personnel are currently suspended pending disciplinary proceedings, new official figures show.

Details released on foot of a series of parliamentary questions reveal that staff at the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine and the Office of Public Works are also facing investigations.

Independent TD Carol Nolan tabled a series of questions to Ministers last week which asked them to set out the number of employees in their departments or in agencies under the remit of their departments who were currently suspended on full pay pending disciplinary investigations.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said 90 members of An Garda Síochána were currently on suspension and in receipt of suspension allowance, equal to full pay.

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She said 73 of these gardaí had been suspended for longer than 12 months. Ten, she added, had been suspended for between six months and a year.

Ms McEntee said the IPS had informed her of six members of staff currently suspended on full pay pending the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings.

Two of these had been on suspension for longer than a year, she said.

One member of staff at the Department of Justice was also suspended on full pay pending a disciplinary investigation, she added.

The Department said Garda authorities had recently told the Policing Authority that in 2023 there was a 40 per cent reduction in the amount of members new suspensions compared to the previous year.

It said the number of suspensions at present was the lowest it had been for two years. It said there had been no new suspensions in the calendar year of 2024.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents rank-and-file members of the force, has previously accused senior Garda management of being overzealous in the application of disciplinary regulations.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said, in reply to the parliamentary question: “I can confirm that one civil servant in my department is suspended at present, while a disciplinary process is under way. The person concerned has been suspended for 14 months.”

Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said that at the Office of Public Works one employee had been temporarily suspended pending the outcome of an investigation, with effect from April 10th, 2024.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said one member of staff at his department was currently suspended on full pay in accordance with the disciplinary code in the Civil Service. He declined to set out the duration of the suspension, as it could potentially lead to the individual concerned being identified.

“A disciplinary procedure is initiated where a concern arises regarding the conduct, performance, and/or attendance of a Civil Servant. A disciplinary procedure provides a fair and efficient process for dealing with such concerns and all Civil Servants are obliged to participate in such procedures,” the Minister said.

Martin Wall

Martin Wall

Martin Wall is the former Washington Correspondent of The Irish Times. He was previously industry correspondent

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