Should Minister for Justice Helen McEntee be shuffled out of the role when Simon Harris becomes taoiseach next month, she would leave the portfolio with, as a political saying goes, “a lot done, more to do”.
Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), who represent the hands-on management and supervision ranks across the force, have aired their grievances with the Minister and Government over the last two days at their annual conference in Westport, Co Mayo.
While the event was something of a “getting it off your chest” session, AGSI has taken a more measured and diplomatic approach than the Garda Representative Association (GRA), which has effectively declared all-out war on Commissioner Drew Harris.
AGSI has serious concerns about the way the force is being run. More specifically, it is unhappy with how gardaí are treated once an allegation of wrongdoing is made against them.
They are also concerned that young members of the force simply cannot find places to live and want the State to provide accommodation for them. However, McEntee said the answer was to resolve the wider housing crisis rather than to provide accommodation to newly graduated gardaí.
A major concern for AGSI is that Garda numbers have remained stubbornly low, at about 14,000, since the onset of the pandemic four years ago. The Government’s stated objective is to grow to a 15,000-strong force, but AGSI believes the target should be set at 18,000. It says policing has become more complex and labour-intensive due to the sheer scale of record-keeping required, which mops up frontline manpower.
Another more practical complaint is that uniforms introduced two years ago are not warm enough when gardaí are policing in cold conditions and are too warm to wear inside stations. AGSI wants a review carried out of the effectiveness of the uniform – which is costing €20 million over five years – so improvements can be made.
Insp Patricia Gill, based in Clondalkin, Dublin, told the AGSI conference that while she and colleagues welcomed the unveiling of the new uniform, shortcomings need to be addressed.
“It’s really the quality of the uniform, in particular the feedback from the members is its thermal value,” she said. “It is much more functional and certainly more casual, easier to wear, but it just doesn’t have the heat retention. The T-shirt doesn’t have the thermal value outside and the softshell jacket is much too hot when we wear it inside.”
Given the significance of the Garda uniform, Gill believes it is strategically important to improve it.
“It is a part of our identity, it is a huge part of who we are and we are really, really proud to wear it,” she said. “And when we get somewhere, we get that respect and we have that authority. When we get to a scene it is really important that the uniform is visible, that we can command attention, that we can command respect.”
Sgt Kevin Bolger, of the Wicklow-Wexford division, raised concerns at the length of time it takes for investigations to be completed when allegations are made against gardaí. While he believed management was, in some cases, justified in its decisions to suspend gardaí pending the outcome of investigations, some suspensions can continue for five years or more.
He said this can be very damaging to people’s reputations – both personally and professionally. Even when gardaí are cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated, he sad it can often be difficult for them to resume their work on the force.
He urged the commissioner to carry out a full review with a view to streamlining the process. Information should regularly be provided to suspended gardaí about how their investigations are progressing, he said, and in cases where suspensions become protracted, some form of independent review should be introduced to determine whether its continuation is justified.
Det Insp Brian Downey, who is based in north Dublin, said when Garda members are assigned to new postings, they often find it impossible to find anywhere to rent due to the housing crisis. He was aware of one young probationer who was looking for accommodation for so long, and sleeping on friends couches for months, that she eventually resigned from the force.
He called for the Department of Justice to examine the possibility of building accommodation blocks where newly graduated gardaí, or senior members promoted to new postings, could live while they permanent arrangements for themselves.
He believed accommodation issues were so acute that it had contributed to more young gardaí than ever resigning from the force.
“In my own station, I’ve a member commuting from Monaghan, I’ve got members commuting from Mullingar on a daily basis,” he said of colleagues unable to find suitable rentals in Dublin, some of whom choose to sleep in their cars at times rather than commute.
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