Government accused of acting as 'bystanders' in Garda roster dispute

Vivienne Clarke

Labour party TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin has written to the Policing Authority because the Minister for Justice was “just standing by” in the dispute between rank and file gardaí and the Garda Commissioner.

“I think we should all be looking for solutions,” he told RTÉ radio’s Today with Claire Byrne Show. “I wasn't mad about the idea of having such a personalised ballot naming somebody in the ballot.

"Gardaí I've spoken to said that vote of no confidence in the Garda Commissioner was the only avenue they had to speak to their discomfort or disquiet about that rostering situation.

"So I don't think we need a new Garda Commissioner because we've had just the third one we've had in the short period of time. And that level of sort of chopping and changing doesn't make people feel confident.”

The Government was acting like “bystanders” so it was now necessary for the Policing Authority to act “because the minister is not doing it and the Labour Party are trying to find solutions.”

When asked why he had written to the Policing Authority requesting they intervene he said the Policing Authority had a role in overseeing the annual policing plan and garda rostering came within that remit.

“They have a point of view and they can investigate how effective are policing services and they can come to a conclusion and get recommendations. I wrote to the Policing Authority to do this. The Minister should have done that here before now. She hasn't.”

There was no evidence that the Minister had communicated with the Policing Authority, he said. The Minister was a bystander while the country was facing “a full blown crisis.”

Criminal barristers would also be on strike on Tuesday which mean that the court system would be coming to a halt. “That could become a rolling situation of unrest within the legal system if that's not resolved.

“So between the garda situation, which is industrial action facing us and the huge amount of unrest, morale is on the floor. Every policing meeting I go to, the body language from gardaí is that of a force that doesn't feel that they're being respected. And those who are in the gardai, maybe 15, 20 years are saying that they wouldn't join it now.

“So I think there is a political responsibility here at least to accept that there is a problem and that we can start dealing with it, but not accepting that we have a problem. I think it's part of the problem.”