The Government is expected to begin looking at ways to include the 8,000 members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) in the Partnership 2000 agreement. A decision is likely after today's meeting of the GRA's executive, which will consider an outstanding productivity-related pay rise of 4 per cent. The pay award concludes the GRA's claims under the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, the predecessor to the present agreement. The association, which represents rank-and-file gardai, never signed up to the Partnership 2000 deal and is currently outside the partnership process.
The 4 per cent PCW award was negotiated with the Garda Pay Adjudication Board, headed by a barrister, Mr Gerry Durkan. A spokesman for the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) said its members were expected to conclude a similar deal by the end of the month. Unlike the GRA, the 2,000 members of the AGSI are signed up to Partnership 2000. The latest pay award follows a 9 per cent pay increase received by gardai after the "blue flu" industrial action in 1998.
If accepted, the new arrangement would see gardai co-operating with new rostering arrangements; increased "civilianisation" (employing nongardai for administrative duties); use of new computer technology; and acceptance of direct payment of salaries into bank accounts instead of payment by cheque.
The representative groups have argued that the PULSE (Police Using Leading Systems Effectively) computer system would result in substantial changes in work practices for their members. PULSE will replace the existing Garda network which is not year 2000 compliant. The system, involving 400 computers in 200 Garda stations, will provide instant information on suspects from a database of criminal records.
The proposed changes in rostering will apply only to gardai in Dublin, Limerick and Cork. If the GRA executive decides to ballot its members on the deal, gardai affected by the rostering changes will be asked to vote ahead of their colleagues in the association. The outcome of the ballot on the new rostering arrangements will determine whether or not there is a second ballot on the entire productivity deal.