Mr. Conor King:

I thank the Senator for his attendance and his questions, which I will address in turn. We are fortunate to have very good relationships with our fellow Garda representative associations of all ranks, from the GRA all the way up to the chief superintendents. We have noted the degree of frustration that seems to exist towards the Garda model of suspension policy. We are aware that a new suspension policy has been rolled out in the very recent past. We are also aware that the GRA does not currently recognise that suspension policy due to a lack of consultation. That is all too familiar to us and is why we always stress that early and timely consultation is so important. We are the people who have to feed into the policy and ensure that it is fit for purpose but more importantly, our members are the people who will have to implement it. We need to have buy-in from the membership to ensure that the suspension policy is fit for purpose. We have all heard the horror stories, anecdotally, of suspensions in An Garda Síochána that have gone on interminably. We have all heard the media reports of a Garda who gave a bicycle to an elderly pensioner during Covid and was suspended for a number of years. We have seen other examples across the public sector, mainly in the HSE, of protracted suspensions of a decade or more. What we want to achieve here is to shine a light on the requirement to consider two issues. First, there must be clarity in relation to the implementation of the suspension policy so that those people, namely our members, who are required to recommend and implement suspensions are legally covered and are clear in their rights and obligations. Second, for the members who may find themselves, for whatever reason, potentially the subject of a suspension, that suspension must be clear, unambiguous and in keeping with natural justice and fair procedures. A member who is to be suspended should know exactly why he or she is being suspended but that is not always the case. Furthermore, suspensions must be subject to regular, frequent and periodic review.

It cannot just be a roll-over, where the suspension becomes the punishment. There has to be a timely and quick investigation. As we hopefully touched on in our opening statement, suspensions can have a devastating effect on someone's career regardless of whether they are innocent or guilty. When a suspension drags on for years and years, the psychological contract that the soldier, the sailor or aircrew member in Óglaigh na hÉireann has with the State can only be damaged. That is where we are at with the suspensions.