Garda Representative Association leaders should know by lunchtime today if their members have voted to accept the pay offer negotiated last month.
The postal ballot closed yesterday evening with an estimated 6,000 rank-and-file gardai voting. This figure represents more than 70 per cent of GRA members and is expected to be one of the highest polls for a pay deal in the GRA's history.
Just under 5,000 gardai voted in the last pay deal in 1994, which was accepted by a majority of 69 per cent. This deal, based on the pensionability of allowances, led to the splitting of the GRA, with younger members unhappy with the deal.
Most observers predicted last night that the result of the ballot would be tight. On Sunday the acting general secretary, Mr P.J. Stone, said a high poll could improve the chances of acceptance.
A number of branch meetings in recent weeks have heard loud opposition to the offer, on the basis that GRA leaders had promised members 15 per cent.
Dublin-based gardai called to the north Dublin office of the GRA auditors to deliver ballot papers before the 5 p.m. deadline.
The ballot for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) pay offer closes at first post next Tuesday. More than 1,800 sergeants and 262 inspectors are being asked to vote on increases based on the 9 per cent offered to rank-and-file gardai.
Like the GRA offer, the AGSI offer is broken down between pay scales. AGSI members are being offered between 7.2 and 11 per cent across grades, with a long-service increment after seven years for sergeants and a second after 14 years. The offer also introduces a long-service increment for inspectors after six years.
It is understood that the AGSI deal will not be affected by rejection or acceptance of the GRA deal. A senior AGSI source said the deal was a "stand-alone" offer, and members were expected to accept it.
