Gardaí must be provided with State financial assistance to allow them to purchase homes in the current housing crisis, rank-and-file officers will tell the Government this week.
The annual conference of the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which represents about 12,000 gardaí, begins on Monday in Killarney, Co Kerry. Members will debate a motion to call on the Government to introduce an “enhanced scheme” to allow gardaí to purchase homes using State assistance.
Under the proposal, if a frontline garda is attempting to buy a home, the Government would provide a percentage of the purchase price. The State would continue to own a share of the property until the garda completes an agreed term of service.
At that point, the State’s share of the property would be transferred to the garda.
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The motion is one of a number aimed at improving working conditions for gardaí and addressing gaps in policing. The GRA says the force is undergoing a manpower crisis and that its strength of 14,000 members has remained stagnant for more than a decade during a period when the population grew 15 per cent.
Another motion calls on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to “urgently address” a nationwide shortage in forensic collision investigators, specialised gardaí who are tasked with determining the cause of serious road incidents.
All members currently acting as collision investigators should be appointed to the role full-time, the motion states.
A policy should be also be drafted “to ensure the highest standards are maintained in fatal collision and life-altering collision investigation.”
A major point of contention for the GRA is the Garda’s new operating policing model, which has resulted in the amalgamation of Garda districts and, according to critics, the withdrawing of resources from community policing and rural areas.
The GRA conference will hear a motion calling on Mr Harris and Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to conduct an “immediate review” of the model and publish its findings.
“The current operational policing model is simply unfit for purpose, with gardaí tied up in red tape and endless bureaucracy, stuck behind desks and computer screens instead of being out on the streets where they want to be,” GRA president president Mark O’Meara said.
Members will also call on the Minister to review the Garda suspension policy and introduce an “independent external appeals process”.
There will also be calls on the commissioner to review the training for gardaí regarding “spontaneous pursuits” of suspects. The GRA has long complained that gardaí do not receive enough training to engage in emergency pursuits.
All frontline gardaí should also be trained on the use of “mark nine incapacitant spray”, a new stronger form of pepper spray which is typically issued only to public-order units.
This is in light “of the continuing instances of assaults being perpetrated on gardaí and the lack of available resources,” the motion states.
The theme of the conference is “It was a job worth doing – undervalued and under attack”, a response to the Garda’s recruitment campaign slogan “A job worth doing.”
For the second year in a row the GRA has not invited the commissioner to address the conference in protest over his policies.
As a result, Mr O’Callaghan has declined his invitation to attend.
