Plans for greater co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have run into difficulties after the AGSI advised its members not to take part in a secondment programme between the two forces until they are paid substantially more to do so.
A protocol providing for the secondment programme was signed last month by Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde. Under this plan sergeants would be paid €17,000 extra per year to move from the Republic to work with the PSNI.
Inspectors would be paid €20,000 and superintendents €23,000.
However, AGSI president Joe Dirwan yesterday told Mr Conroy that his association would be advising its members not to participate in the programme until the offer was considerably raised.
Addressing Mr Conroy directly at the AGSI conference in Kilkenny, Mr Dirwan said despite the signing of the protocol, the situation governing the movements of personnel between the two forces was "far from satisfactory".
"In our negotiations on this matter the official side failed to make any meaningful offer that would make such movements attractive to our members and accordingly we have advised them not to participate.
"This is a very great pity and I appeal to you to use your good offices with the official side to ask them to return to the negotiating table with a realistic offer."
AGSI deputy general secretary John Redmond also said the association had concerns in relation to the safety of its members working in the North.
So far no officers have been seconded between the two forces. The AGSI said it was seeking additional payments because of the significant costs that would be incurred by any of its members moving north of the border for a three-year secondment.
The agreement comes at a time of unprecedented co-operation between the two forces as they seek to track down the £26.5 million they believe the IRA stole in the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast before Christmas and as the Garda mount a linked crackdown on alleged IRA money laundering.
The idea for exchanges and secondments was first recommended in the Patten Report on the future of policing in Northern Ireland drawn up by former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten in 1999.
The British and Irish Governments carried forward the idea in an inter-governmental agreement on policing, which they signed in 2002.