Organisational reform of An Garda Síochána being forced through without consultation, say senior civil servants

The decision to change the status of thousands of civil servants working in An Garda Síochána is an unwelcome throwback to the industrial relations of the economic crash, the Association of Senior Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS) has said.

The leader of the union representing the majority of the country’s senior civil servants said the changes are proceeding without any meaningful consultation.

The AHCPS has around 80 members currently working with the force and they, along with some 3,000 other civil servants will become Garda employees at the start of next year if the Government proceeds with a reorganisation of the force through legislation.

Both the AHCPS and Forsa, which represents the bulk of the other staff, say the proposed move would deprive civilian staff in the Garda of the right to move cross the civil service or avail of promotional opportunities in other State bodies or Government departments.

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The issue is among those to be debated at the AHCPS conference on Friday with motions both calling for opposition to the move and criticising the Government’s approach. AHCPS General Secretary Ciaran Rohan says that union is likely to consult with its own members before the two organisations decide on what form any opposition to the move might take over the coming months.

“There are a few issues to this but really, the most fundamental thing, is the use of primary legislation to change the terms and conditions of the employment of people similar to the way it was done with the financial emergency legislation,” he said.

“We’ve had this before and the fact they would do it again without having a conversation with us first is a massive concern.

[ Union calls on Minister for talks on proposed changes to Garda support staff recruitment ]

“Another issue is the loss of people’s civil service status and all that goes with that and there’s really no particular reason for that,” he says. “The staff could be allowed to retain their status on a personal to holder basis; that’s what happened in An Post, the RTÉ Authority, the Irish Aviation Authority and, most recently, the Corporate Enforcement Authority.

“The intention is that the status of civilian staff will change on January 1st, 2024. We have tried to raise objections to the changes but they have effectively said they will engage with us after the legislation is finished. At that stage it will be too late.”

In a statement, the Department of Justice insisted that there will be further engagement on the matter.

“The Minister wants to reassure existing Garda staff there will be no changes to their terms and conditions, including their status as civil servants of the Government, when the Bill is commenced,” it said.

“The Bill provides for engagement with the unions on the terms and conditions of existing Garda staff prior to any changes being considered. Therefore any change can only take place on foot of further detailed engagement with the recognised trade unions concerned, Fórsa and AHCPS, through the normal industrial relations structures. The Department has already met with both unions and such discussions are continuing.”

The AHCPS conference will also hear calls for the Government to double the amount of paid leave to be made available to victims of domestic abuse in the civil service from the five days being provided for in new legislation to 10.

“I saw some really good policies from AIB last week, 10 days and other supports being available as well and when we talked to DPER (the Department for Public Expenditure and Reform), we said to them, ‘look, there’s an opportunity here for you to show real leadership on this issue, by going to 10 days’,” he said.

Mr Rohan said when the union is assisting members affected by domestic violence the employers “tend to be really good,” but, he said, “we need policies to be put in place to support the people seeking to take leave and, actually, to help employers deal with this too because there isn’t anything they can point in terms of policy at the moment and a central template would be very helpful.”