Rank-and-file gardaí have voted to accept the new public service pay agreement.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) said on Tuesday its members had backed the new accord in a ballot by a margin of 74 per cent to 26 per cent.
The deal provides for a 1 per cent increase this year and next year and introduces a new sectoral bargaining arrangement aimed at dealing with outstanding claims and awards. A fund equal to a further 1 per cent of the pay bill has been allocated for this process.
The first increases under the new deal are scheduled to be paid to staff in October.
Prior to the ballot, the GRA's central executive committee had maintained that the proposals set out in the agreement "protected the members' interests regarding ongoing change and modernisation of An Garda Síochána and its workplaces".
‘Difficult time’
Speaking on Tuesday after the ballot result was known, GRA interim general secretary Philip McAnenly said: “It has been a difficult time for all members of the association policing during the pandemic and the subsequent reopening and we believe this has been recognised within these proposals.”
He added that the ballot outcome will mean an increase of 1 per cent for members, with effect from October 1st, and two similar increases in 2022.
The agreement, which was negotiated last December, has been backed by organisations across the public service which are affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu).
Some other bodies, in addition to the GRA, which are outside of the Ictu structure, such as the association representing military officers in the Defence Forces, have also supported the deal.
