All front line Garda members need Taser stun guns, body-mounted cameras and self-defence classes to help combat the “sharp” increase in assaults on them, members of the force’s biggest staff association believe.
Those demands will be discussed by delegates at the Garda Representative Association (GRA) three-day annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo, which gets under way today. The theme of the conference is ‘breaking point’, which is a reference to the pressure many gardaí feel they are under.
The GRA says its members are being assaulted on duty more than ever, suspensions from the force are at an all-time high and there is an urgent need for better training and equipment so they can do their jobs properly. Rank-and-file gardaí are also against plans to introduce new rosters, which they say will result in many more working days per year and a loss of allowances during an inflationary spike.
They also say because the Garda College in Templemore, Co Tipperary, was closed for two years and recruitment stopped due to the pandemic, Garda numbers declined, meaning that gardaí still working have been burdened with a much higher workload.
GRA president Brendan O’Connor will tell delegates that gardaí feel “disenfranchised by garda management” and are working within “endless bureaucracy which restricts movement, commitment and their work life balance”.
The GRA is also expected to use its annual conference to raise its concerns about a Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) senior investigator allegedly attending a party that Gerard Hutch was at last Monday.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris will address the conference on Tuesday while Minister for Justice Simon Harris will speak on Wednesday.
[ Minister rules out Tasers or firearms for gardaí facing violenceOpens in new window ]
The GRA – which represents about 12,000 rank-and-file gardaí in a 14,000-strong force – said gardaí were concerned about the security of information held by Gsoc as a result of its investigations into Garda members.
“Our members are constantly being spoken to about integrity testing and career-long vetting and things like that,” GRA president, Mr O’Connor, said. “So, certainly if Gsoc officers are holding our members to account ... we need to see very strong checks and balances to ensure those processes [undergo] the same scrutiny our members are exposed to.”
The GRA conference will also hear calls for the Government to introduce mandatory minimum jail sentences for people who assault gardaí. Delegates from the Westmeath Garda division will also call on Commissioner Harris to “acknowledge the surge in financial and online fraud crimes” and establish “fully trained fraud investigation units” in every Garda district. The Westmeath delegates will also highlight the “current critical state of the forensic collision investigative capability”.
Gardaí from the Dublin West division will seek to raise the issue of heavy Garda workloads and call for a cap on the number of investigations any Garda member is expected to be involved in at any one time. Furthermore, gardaí representing the Meath division want the current record high level of suspensions in the force to be investigated.
They will also call for the introduction of more “transparent” procedures when an allegation is made against a garda and their suspension is being considered. There has been concern in the Garda that members were being suspended for years as investigations into them were conducted, with very little information shared with them about progress in their case or when it may conclude.
