Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have genuine concerns about the position in which members of the force now find themselves. I believe the force was very ill-served by the conduct of the GRA and the AGSI in stepping outside the talks. They had a very important contribution to make to shaping the outcome of those talks and to addressing specific issues that related to members of An Garda Síochána with which I am personally familiar. Unfortunately, the GRA and the AGSI took a different course. In the words of the GRA, "The GRA executive rejected all such proposals that included a cut in Garda pay, and decided we would not participate in any process that proposed such cuts". It could have been involved in the talks but it chose not to be involved.

In the case of the AGSI, its executive stated that removal of the AGSI from the talks was in the best interests of members, namely, to protect core pay, including allowances. It was not. Rather, it was in the best interests of members that the AGSI engaged. Members of the Garda force should ask themselves whether the representative bodies of the Defence Forces engaged, whether the Prison Officers Association engaged, and whether those engagements achieved outcomes, which they did, that were sure to shape the architecture of what was agreed. Why did their representative bodies not make this contribution?

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