Gardaí in the Roscommon/ Galway East division are refusing to escort prisoners to and from court on their rest days in an escalation of a row over the non-payment of travel and subsistence allowances.
The action began yesterday and will last for at least one month. Gardaí want to be paid allowances and overtime they say they are entitled to for escort work carried out to date. Most of the division's 190 officers are owed several hundred euro.
They also want an end to the practice of ferrying prisoners at Castlerea Prison to and from court appearances in taxis.
For the last two months taxis rather than Garda vehicles have been used to transport the prisoners. One Garda source said the practice started because it was "cheaper to pay a taxi man".
The latest development is likely to have a serious impact. More than 75 per cent of escorts in the region are provided by gardaí on their rest days. And up to seven escorts are needed every day to bring Castlerea inmates to and from court. Gardaí in the region insist the action "will go on for at least a month and as long as it takes after that".
Mr Brian Campbell, of the Garda Representative Association, said officers were angry because they had performed escort duties in good faith and now found themselves out of pocket.
Garda at the traffic bureau in Dublin are currently embroiled in a similar dispute over subsistence allowances.
Just four, of 16, motorcycle officers are on patrol during evening rush hour. The remaining officers all return to their base at Dublin Castle at 5.30 p.m. to take their mid-shift break because they are being denied a €13 payment for having their break while they are out on patrol.