GARDA SERGEANTS and inspectors are calling for some uniformed gardaí to be allowed to carry firearms at all times because of increased gun violence on the streets.
It would be the first time in the history of the force that uniformed members were permanently armed.
The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) will also use its annual delegate conference, which begins in Galway this evening, to urge members not to work as strike cover if prison officers take industrial action.
On the issue of arming uniformed gardaí, Agsi delegates from six Garda divisions want a more robust and visible role for the new Regional Support Units (RSUs).
Delegates want the units to be armed at all times because of the threat to the public and members of the force posed by what they say is growing gun crime.
Some of the Agsi delegates will also urge the Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy to relax the rules around the RSUs so they can deploy their weapons on the sanction of a sergeant, rather than wait for the order from higher up.
There are two RSUs, one in the eastern region and one in the southern region, covering Cork and Limerick cities. They have around 60 members combined and patrol in Garda uniforms, in marked Garda vehicles, and are not armed during routine patrols.
However, when called upon to handle a dangerous situation they switch to armed mode within minutes and effectively become a small emergency response team.
Agsi members from the Garda divisions of Cork West, Westmeath, Meath, Galway and Kildare want the RSU members to be deployed permanently in armed mode.
It would be the first time uniformed gardaí have been deployed armed and would represent a very significant development in Irish policing.
Agsi’s three-day conference is likely to be dominated by issues related to public sector cuts, including reductions in the take-home pay of Garda members and the recruitment and promotions moratorium.
Some delegates will urge the association’s national executive to campaign for full trade union status for Agsi and take the case to the European courts if necessary.
The conference will also hear calls for clarity on the tax-free status of gratuity sums payable to Garda members on retirement. These payments are currently 1.5 times the member’s finishing salary.
Last year some 800 older members took early retirement, more than treble the figure of recent years, mainly because they feared their gratuity sums were about to be taxed as part of the Government’s efforts to save money.
Agsi is calling on the Government to give clear guidance on the tax status of the payments in the years ahead, so that members can make an informed decision about retiring early or staying on.
Sergeants and inspectors from a large number of divisions across the State have tabled motions urging the Government and Garda senior management to fill all middle management vacancies that have arisen because of the increased retirement rates.
Some delegates also want the Garda to be exempt from the public sector recruitment freeze.
