Gardaí to seek more armed units to fight organised crime
Rank-and-file gardaí want more armed units to deal with organised crime and the threat posed by the New IRA, as well as better counselling services, more frontline police and improved equipment.
The calls will be made when delegates representing nearly 11,000 gardaí attend the Garda Representative Association conference which gets underway in Co Kerry tomorrow.
The Sligo/Leitrim Garda Division is seeking support from delegates for the establishment of a 24-hour Armed Support Unit in every garda division throughout the country.
This call is bound to get significant backing from gardaí in border counties in particular, especially following the recent murder of journalist Lyra McKee, 29, in Derry by the New IRA and the increasing threat the dissidents pose amid the turmoil surrounding Brexit.
Concerns will also be raised that new structures within the force have actually lead to a decrease in garda numbers on the ground in certain areas.
A motion has been tabled highlighting this and seeking Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to carry out an ‘optimal members’ numbers survey as a matter of urgency.’
Amid a previous threat of strike action, gardaí did receive a pay rise. However, while further pay restoration may not be to the forefront of the conference, a motion for discussion from the Roscommon/Longford Garda Division calls for the GRA’s central executive to get pay restored to pre-recession rates.
Rental costs have long been an issue for young gardaí in particular, especially if they are posted to large urban areas. Members of a Garda division in Dublin are demanding that an allowance be made payable to ‘members attached to stations positioned in or near rent pressure zones’.
The commissioner will also be asked to immediately equip all garda vehicles with satellite navigation systems with eircode capabilities and with lifejackets and high-powered flashlights so gardaí can cope better with all types of emergencies.
GRA delegates will also express concern about the lack of action following the publication of the association’s Wellbeing Survey last year, which showed high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder among gardaí who have attended serious incidents.
The Kerry and Tipperary Garda Divisions will highlight the issue and condemn the insufficient counselling service offered to frontline gardaí, who are often the first to attend the scene of murders, fatal fires and horrific road crashes.
They will call on Mr Harris to introduce a wellbeing policy for all gardaí and that ‘the first counselling session be compulsory for any member of the force who has had to attend traumatic incidents.’
The archaic condition of some Garda stations will also come under the spotlight.
The GRA’s central executive will call on the commissioner, the OPW and Department of Justice to significantly speed up promised works on new garda stations in Clonmel, Macroom, Sligo and Newcastlewest.
The conference will also hear calls for Mr Harris to make the influenza vaccination available to all members of the force, similar to a scheme provided to other frontline services personnel.
