Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said he is willing to compromise to reach an agreement on a new staff roster, and that no preconditions to talks have been put down by management.
Rank-and-file gardaí have threatened to withdraw their labour if the stand-off with Mr Harris over the re-implementation of a pre-Covid roster system is not resolved.
Members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) are planning to decline to work voluntary overtime on the five Tuesdays in October, dates that include Halloween and Budget day.
They have also vowed to continue to operate the current roster system of four days on and four days off when the old system is due to come back into effect on November 6th.
If there is no resolution, GRA members have said they will fully withdraw their labour on November 10th.
Mr Harris is trying to move from a roster based on gardai working four days on and four days off to six days on, with shorter shift times, and four days off.
The move has been strongly resisted by the GRA.
However, Mr Harris said gardai will be expected to comply with a roster change planned for November 6th.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the Policing Authority, Mr Harris said: “We are a disciplined organisation. Individuals have already been informed what their duties are, and they will be expected then to parade for duty on those days.”
Mr Harris said he would not “speculate” on disciplinary measures for gardai who withdraw their labour.
He added: “We’ll have to see what happens on that day.
“There’s no clear indication that there’s going to be a withdrawal of labour beyond those individuals who are members of the (GRA) executive stating that they intend to do so.
“So we await developments over the next couple of weeks.”
Asked if he was proceeding with the roster change due to a concern that he could not be seen to back down, he said: “This isn’t a personal issue for me. This is a professional issue in terms of providing a policing service to the people of Ireland.
“We’ve already set out the rationale for why I’ve made this decision: This is a professional policing decision in terms of how we police and provide crime prevention, detection, and also a national security service here.”
Asked about the GRA request to delay the roster change beyond November 6th, Mr Harris said: “The rationale is around visibility and service delivery. As commissioner with responsibility for an efficient and effective policing service provided and being held to account for that, I can’t wait beyond November 6th.”
He said the current roster is more expensive and provides “poor service” delivery.
Mr Harris admitted there was a decision in November that management “could not” implement the old roster at that time, but added: “In the meantime, circumstances changed.”
He said issues around garda visibility and the cost of the current roster then became apparent.
Asked about gardaí planning to decline to work voluntary overtime on Budget day, Mr Harris said members are “actually detailed” for that date.
He said there would be an adequate policing plan in place.
He added: “We don’t wait ’til the morning of October 10th to see who turns in voluntarily.
“Individuals are detailed and properly briefed for those sorts of duties and will be notified in advance of their requirement to work.”
Policing Authority chairman Bob Collins said it “would be odd” for the current garda roster to continue indefinitely.
He said the authority has no view on the roster dispute within An Garda Síochana, but added: “It would seem odd that an emergency roster introduced in An Garda Síochana for the purpose of serving the public during the Covid emergency would continue indefinitely.”
He said he would not make any comment on the relationship between Mr Harris and garda representative organisations.
Mr Collins said the authority’s confidence in the commissioner is “full and unqualified”.
Earlier, GRA president Brendan O’Connor urged the Government to intervene as he called for “common sense” to prevail.
He said many members felt withdrawing labour was the only option left to them.
“Unfortunately we have found ourselves in a situation where the disaffection and discontent among our members is so great, you see members who are very much committed to the organisation that are so despondent that they feel they have no other course of action, so it’s very unfortunate,” he told RTÉ Radio One.
Mr O’Connor added: “Common sense has to prevail.
“We would be asking for the Government to intervene or someone else in the department and the organisation.”
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said the decisions on industrial action taken at a special delegates conference of the GRA on Wednesday were “regrettable”.
Speaking in Brussels, the minister said: “I think the facts are very clear here.
“There’s nobody, and that means the Garda Commissioner nor the Garda associations, who believes that either the current roster or the previous and incumbent roster is the right roster moving forward.
“We all want to negotiate a new roster that is suitable for the needs of the public today and that, of course, works for members of An Garda Síochana.
“The only way that that can be found is through negotiation.
“Talks are still ongoing.
“There will be a meeting today between the commissioner of An Garda Siochana with the four associations and it’s absolutely imperative that all four associations – including the GRA – are around the table for that discussion.”
The latest developments come after almost 99 per cent of gardaí who voted in a ballot organised by the GRA expressed no confidence in the commissioner two weeks ago.
A meeting between the commissioner and GRA representatives on Tuesday ended without resolution.
