Ms Antoinette Cunningham:

I have a quick contribution on the pay review body. It will obviously be overseen by a Government appointee, usually from the Minister for Justice. The important thing about a pay review body for An Garda Síochána is the ability for gardaí to negotiate their own pay still falls under an ad hocarrangement, where we are invited to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, when it facilitates national pay talks. Other public servants have their pay negotiated by the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, which represents the trade union side. We are not a trade union, so we are not in the main room. The only reason therefore we are at the WRC is our insistence that the Government gives us the right to negotiate our own pay. For years we were left outside the door while national pay negotiations went on, with no voice at the table to bring forward the unique issues that affect An Garda Síochána. There has to be a forum where we can bring forward the differences between us and other public servants. Nobody else will be asked to take a badge out of their pocket when they are off-duty or not in their place of work, identify themselves as a member of An Garda Síochána and enforce legislation, if that is what they are required to do. That makes us different to any other sector in this country. It would also be useful to address the important issues of retention, pension entitlement and the salary increments available to members to make the job more attractive. They have not been revisited for years. The establishment of a body would allow us to get into discussions to manage all of those issues.