Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald appealed to the Garda Representative Association (GRA) to re-engage with talks on pay and conditions and said she was willing to discuss gardaí's concerns.
“Resolution of any outstanding issues of concern to the GRA can only be addressed through engagement between the parties, and my department continues to be available to discuss those issues,” Ms Fitzgerald said in a statement.
"It would be most unfortunate if, rather than engaging further, action were to be contemplated that would not be in the best interests of our communities or An Garda Síochána. "
But the Government remained firm last night that there could be no concession of a special pay deal for gardaí. Independent Alliance TD Finian McGrath said the alliance was “100 per cent on board” for maintaining the existing pay agreements with public sector unions.
Declined to support
“Of course they have a case but the way to deal with it is through the Lansdowne Road Agreement,” Mr McGrath told
The Irish Time
s last night. The main Opposition parties declined to support the GRA decision, with both
Fianna Fáil
and Sinn Féin saying that the Government should seek to re-open talks with the Garda. The impending industrial action presents an enormous threat to the Government as it seeks to finalise its first budget. The position of Minister for Public Expenditure
Paschal Donohoe
since his appointment, publicly and privately, has been that the Lansdowne Road Agreement is “the only game in town”.
Last night, Government sources said that Mr Donohoe’s position remained unchanged. His view, sources said, is that if the Government conceded a special wage deal for gardaí outside the terms of the Lansdowne Road Agreement, the agreement would collapse across the public service within 24 hours.
Sequence of events
One Government source pointed to the sequence of events in recent days. A deal was announced with the GRA on Friday evening. Within days the nurses union was demonstrating outside Leinster House looking for a similar deal.
The Government view is that compromising Lansdowne Road would destroy the whole public pay settlement, triggering widescale industrial action and endangering the stability of the public finances.
Crucially, however, it seems likely that Fianna Fáil will not seek to oppose the Government on the issue by backing the proposed garda strike. Last night, a spokesman for Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said that every member of the GRA should be given a chance to vote on the latest set of proposals from the Government.
“The Minister also needs to get involved,” the spokesman said. “She needs to meet with the gardaí and give them reassurances on the deal.”
