Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree that members of An Garda Síochána are essential and pivotal to civilised living in this country. They protect individuals in communities and never know the day or the hour when they may be exposed to violence or asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. The Government views An Garda Síochána as a key strand in Irish life and is committed to supporting it in every way possible.

As I said in my statement yesterday, I am disappointed to hear of the GRA's rejection of the agreement which was reached with the Department last Friday and in which we addressed a range of issues. I am also disappointed to hear of the announcement that it is to take industrial action. The agreement addresses in a very positive way many of the issues raised by the GRA in the course of negotiations which, contrary to what the Deputy said, have been taking place for a number of months. In the past four months there have been detailed negotiations between my Department and the representative associations and agreement was reached with the AGSI. The agreement seeks to address, in particular, the concerns articulated about the pay of new recruits, the additional hours gardaí are required to work, access to pay determination and resolution bodies and the completion of the review of An Garda Síochána. The Department has yet to hear officially from the GRA, although its concerns have been articulated in the public arena. The outstanding issues can only be addressed through engagement between the parties and my Department which continues to be available to address them. To facilitate that engagement, I want the GRA to set out to us its outstanding concerns about the agreement. Everybody in the House agrees that it would be most unfortunate if, rather than engaging, further action was contemplated which would not be in the best interests of communities or An Garda Síochána.

The AGSI has also raised a number of issues about the public service pay commission, something about which the Deputy asked and which I will address. The Government recognises that members of An Garda Síochána, like all public servants, played a very significant part in stabilising the public finances and bringing about economic recovery. They were subject to the same reductions as all other public servants during the financial crisis and, similarly, have benefited from the partial restoration of pay commenced on foot of the Lansdowne Road agreement.

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