Hi °C | Lo °C GARDA Commissioner Martin Callinan has been urged to publicly admit that Justice Minister Alan Shatter has not given him enough money in his annual budget to pay his workforce for the year.
The call was made by Garda Representative Association (GRA) general secretary PJ Stone, who said the force had been "left short" financially by the Government but this had not been brought into the open by the commissioner.
Mr Stone said he had been baffled by Mr Callinan's public comments that he was satisfied with the resources available to him to police the country.
The GRA leader made the remarks after he and his central executive committee had met Mr Callinan for almost two hours at garda headquarters.
The meeting was called by Mr Callinan to hear views on the financial difficulties facing rank-and-file members of the force because of cuts to their pay packets.
Last month, the Irish Independent disclosed that the force was facing a financial crisis later in the year because the payroll budget did not contain enough money to pay 13,000 members and also revealed a shortfall in the overtime budget for special operations.
Fears
Mr Shatter later dismissed the fears and said there was no possibility of gardai not being properly paid. However, the shortfalls remain.
A senior garda officer said last night that Mr Callinan had made it clear to the GRA that he held statutory powers and could not comment in public about budgets.
Mr Stone said he accepted that gardai were paid by the Department of Justice and Mr Callinan was not their paymaster but be believed the commissioner should tell the public about the shortages.
"The Government has already left the commissioner short in this year's Budget for the payment of wages, so it baffles us when we hear from Mr Callinan about the adequate resources available to him."
He accepted that Mr Callinan had to operate within the available budget but if that budget did not allow for the provision of proper policing services, that should be said so the public could be aware of it.
Mr Stone said his association's campaign of action, which begins tomorrow, would not break the law and would not disrupt policing.
The campaign, which will result in gardai refusing to use their own cars to drive to court, or personal computers and phones for official use, will be stepped up on a phased basis.
Mr Stone said it was very unfair that some gardai, when they retired, did not enjoy the same longevity of life as others because they had been working nights and weekends and it was now intended to reduce their payments for those hours.
He pointed out that the gardai had not taken part directly in the pay discussions but were dependant on briefings and those, negotiating on their behalf, did not, in his view, have the authority to reach agreement on their pay and conditions of employment.
He stressed that his members did not want to become involved in a pay dispute but said it was not right that the gardai were being treated in an arbitrary and unilateral way.
Mr Stone also said he believed the commissioner had been "moved" by the stories told by his executive about the financial plight of some members and had stated he would reflect on what had been said.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Mr Callinan said he had listened carefully to the issues raised by the association.
Irish Independent
