Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said he is willing to consider a substantial reduction in the proposed size of the Garda reserve from 4,000 members to fewer than 1,500, after senior officers raised concerns about aspects of his current plans for the reserve force, writes Liam Reid, Political Reporter
His concession came as the two main Garda representative bodies refused to discuss details of the proposed reserve force with the Oireachtas Committee on Justice yesterday, on the basis that it would not be appropriate before discussions begin later today at an industrial relations arbitration meeting of the Joint Conciliation Council.
Both the Garda Representative Association (GRA) and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) have said their members will not co-operate with the reserve.
GRA general secretary PJ Stone told the Oireachtas committee his association would not engage with it at present "because it would show total disrespect to the forum".
However, the chairman of the conciliation council, Steve Magner, a senior official in the Department of Justice, said he had "no problem" with the two associations discussing the reserve outside of the conciliation process. However, he had not been asked by either body about this, a department spokeswoman said last night.
It also emerged at the committee yesterday that members of the reserve, who will be recruited from August, will be paid an annual allowance of between €1,000 and €1,300 for up to 200 hours service a year.
Regulations for the reserve are to be finalised later this month and brought to Cabinet for approval in July.
Yesterday the two other Garda associations, which represent senior officers and which are supporting the proposed reserve, told the Oireachtas committee they also had a number of concerns about the current plans.
The chairman of the Association of Chief Superintendents, Michael Murphy, warned that the proposals for the reserve, "could only be achieved with the full and active co- operation of all stakeholders involved", including the AGSI and the GRA.
He said his association also believed that the current proposed size of 4,000 would represent 30 per cent of the full-time Garda force, which would mean "more reservists than full-time officers in some district stations", and the number should be capped at 10 per cent of the total full-time force.
The Association of Garda Superintendents told the committee that the 90 hours of training proposed for the reserve recruits was insufficient, and that there should be a phased introduction of powers for every reservist, based on their level of training and experience.
The association's secretary general, Supt Tony Kennelly, said the current proposals were "not adequate to give them an adequate knowledge". He said there were also concerns about a "management overload" and that the number of superintendents and other ranks would be insufficient to supervise the reserve, even if the additional ranks announced by Mr McDowell on Monday were included.
The two associations also told the committee that further clarification was needed on the disciplinary procedures for reserve members.
In response, Mr McDowell said he would consider placing a cap on reserve numbers of between 10 per cent and 12 per cent of the full-time force, currently 13,000 strong. "In relation to that I am genuinely flexible," he said.