Gardai may refuse to operate a £50 million computerised police information system due to be installed before the end of the year if pay negotiations between Garda representatives and the Government are not resolved.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA), which is holding its annual conference today, is to discuss claims for additional pay and the possible rejection of new working arrangements and the new computer system, which is to be installed as a precaution against existing systems "crashing" at the millennium.
A joint motion from four Garda divisions states that the association's 8,500 members will refuse to co-operate with the introduction of the new computer system - the most expensive single computer system ever installed in the State - which is known as PULSE, an acronym for "police using leading systems efficiently".
Pay talks, including a demand for extra money to use the new computer system, have been stalled since the start of the year. An adjudicator, Mr Gerard Durkan SC, has been appointed to try and sort out the impasse.
The GRA is understood to be seeking a pay rise of between 7 and 9 per cent above the national pay average to implement new working rosters and the computer system. At present the Government side is understood to be offering about 3 per cent.
Last year the Government capitulated to Garda pay demands for a 9 to 13 per cent pay increase over the national standard after two days of industrial action. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, intervened and settled the dispute largely in favour of the Garda demands.
The GRA's 21st annual conference will also discuss Garda accommodation and the siting of mobile telephone masts in Garda stations, lack of training for Garda drivers, the possibility of seeking full trade union status and special overtime payments for working the New Year.
The GRA general secretary designate, Mr P.J. Stone, said the 21st anniversary conference marked "a coming of age of an association that has evolved by sheer commitment and dedication".