Poor pay and working conditions will put young people off joining Gardaí, says Cork sergeant

YOUNG people will not be attracted to join the Gardaí unless poor pay and working conditions are addressed, according to the Cork-based vice president of a body that represents 2,500 senior members of An Garda Síochána.

Sergeant Alan Cronin, vice-president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), highlighted a number of concerns facing members of An Garda Síochána, including pension levels, rostering issues and the increased possibility of gardaí being recorded while carrying out their duties, and those videos being edited and uploaded to the internet.

Pension rates in An Garda Síochána will see newer recruits retire on a pension of €13,000 per year, while older members of the force may lose around a third of their pension if they decide to work after retirement, Sgr Cronin explained.

“It’s abysmal," said Sgt Cronin. 

"It might be around €13,000. After a lifetime in the guards, and what they have to put up with, it’s not a reasonable return at all.

“When you’re young, you don’t even look at that but increasingly people are looking at it, and saying that’s not realistic," he added. 

Of the cohort who joined after 1995, two thirds of their pension will be a garda pension, with one third paid as part of a supplementary social welfare payment. 

“They lose this one third if they go and work afterwards,” stated Sgt Cronin. 

“They could be paying in to the pension for thirty years. Some of them will be coming up to retirement soon.” 

Sgt Cronin highlighted the impact of camera phones on the work of An Garda Síochána, stating hat videos of gardaí on the job can be edited and uploaded to the internet with "no recourse". 

"They would say 'you're a public servant. It’s in a public place. I have a right to record it'," he said.

The issues of garda pensions and rostering were among those raised at the AGSI annual conference in Salthill, Galway on Tuesday. 

AGSI General Secretary, Antoinette Cunningham, told the 150 delegates, that their members would be cooperating “under protest” for the visit of the President of the United States, Joe Biden, next week, and without future guarantees of cooperation for further VIP visits. There will also be four protest days of action to continue to highlight concern regarding rosters. 

The AGSI conference agreed that actions would be set aside if meaningful negotiations take place on rosters.