CHANGES in garda working conditions, such as those suggested in a management consultants' report to Government, will have to be negotiated with representative associations, according to the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI).
The AGSI has also rejected a suggestion in the report that there is a lack of accountability in the force.
The report, by consultants Deloitte & Touche, was commissioned by the Government in the aftermath of the murder of the journalist, Ms Veronica Guerin, last June. The move came as a major surprise to Garda management which had already been retaining consultants to examine their organisational structures.
The consultants' report is being examined by a special review group, headed by the industrialist, Mr Tony Barry, before being sent to Government.
The report is still in draft form and the final report is due to be given to the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, in the coming weeks.
The AGSI general secretary, Mr George Maybury, said yesterday that he accepted, to a degree, the report's finding that the force was bureaucratic, but he pointed out that much garda work was bureaucratic by nature.
His main concern was that some of the changes of working procedures would have "massive effects" on the lives of individual gardai. "All these will have to be negotiated through the Conciliation and Arbitration Council," he said.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, commented on the observations in the report about the low levels of gardai dedicated to drugs investigation.
He called for an increased number of anti drugs units on a county basis. There should also be specific units including a "rapid response unit, violent deaths, organised crime and a beefed up drugs unit in each county".