Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While this motion encapsulates the numerous issues raised by members, it would be remiss of me to ignore the elephant in the room. The roster issue is ongoing, there is an impasse in the negotiations, the Minister of Justice will not get involved and the GRA is being advised to withdraw voluntary overtime on five Tuesdays in October. These dates include Hallowe'en and budget day. This is concerning for the public. There needs to be negotiation and resolution immediately.

The issue for members is that they are not being listened to and there are no negotiations. In November 2022, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris advised that there were insufficient resources to revert to the Westmanstown roster. A year later, issues around Garda visibility and the cost of the current roster became apparent. The vice president of the GRA indicated that Garda numbers had declined by 800 members, yet the Commissioner has decided to return to the roster. The roster reform project report found that this roster is limited, inflexible and results in an immediate 20% reduction of resources per Garda unit, leading to ineffective supervision and management. Where is the sense in dismantling essential policing units in order to increase visibility? This does not get to the root of the issue. It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

At a meeting of the Policing Authority last week, it was highlighted that, as of 31 August, 219 Garda members had retired in 2023 after hitting the mandatory retirement age of 60 years and 95 members had resigned.

While I acknowledge that an increase in criminal offences in quarter 1 of 2023 requires heightening Garda visibility, a chronic shortage of resources, technology and confidence in leadership directly impacts the force's ability to carry out this role. The roster dispute is only highlighting the extent of the resource shortages and a potential for further reduction in numbers if no negotiations lead to further resignations. On top of this, 112 members and six Garda staff are currently suspended. Bearing in mind that these suspended members are still counted in the overall manpower, this these figures highlight that resources are being embellished and the workload of members is increasing.

This all funnels down to recruitment and retention being the biggest issues. Who wants to work in an organisation where your queries are not listened to? Who wants to work in an environment where there is poor pay, increased workload, poor pension schemes, poor working hours and a risk to life due to a lack of resources? This all results in morale being on the floor.

My colleagues in the Regional Group and I are pushing for an immediate review of the current Garda force, with the engagement of all stakeholders, to be chaired by An Taoiseach. Recommendations must be made within 12 weeks to ensure there is a resolution for all involved. We must look at the push and pull factors which influence recruitment, reduce any barriers for lateral entry into the force and continue the intensive outreach to attract members to the force. I am not a HR professional but it is almost smarter and more cost efficient to pay better wages, increase flexibility for employees and to do whatever we need to keep the talent on board than to search for replacements. Retention is far easier than recruitment. Like any other organisation, Garda members are open about what they want and need. They want respect for their lives outside of work. They want their contributions to be valued.

The review needs to immediately address declining morale within the force and the issues around retention. It needs also to address the mandatory retirement age of 60, recruitment, transfers, rostering, entry-level pay levels and the need to improve work practices. Gardaí need to be treated as valuable professionals rather than units of production. I thank the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for attending the House for the motion.

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