Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister here this evening. I am grateful that he came in. This morning I thought it important to table the motion for the Minister to come in to debate this serious issue. Most people who listened to "Morning Ireland" this morning heard reports that there was no budget for overtime for gardaí until the end of December. That has been clarified during the day. It is quite worrying that there would be confusion about that budget. Reading online I see that gardaí report being sent home. They were rostered for overtime last night but were sent home when they reported for duty. Did that happen last night? Were gardaí who reported to work or expected to work after their shift requested to leave the station and go home? That was reported in the media today.

Will the Minister address the reports that went online this afternoon from several national newspapers, to the effect that no funding would be available for Garda overtime until Monday? Today is Wednesday. There remain Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Are the finances available to the inspectors in the stations? Can the Minister send out a loud and clear message that there is cash available for gardaí to work overtime? This is a very important period in the capital and many other cities. These reports were not just about Dublin. They referred to other major urban centres as well.

Before the Minister came into the House I rang several gardaí and asked if they were aware of those instructions being withdrawn and whether they expected to go back to work overtime. Some were on duty and said they had no information. As far as they were aware the statement they heard on 'Morning Ireland' was the position. They do not expect to do overtime any time soon. Overtime is part and parcel of the working practice of a police force.I accept, as Senator McDowell said, that an exceptional amount of overtime is being done but we know why that has happened. Unfortunately, the training college was closed down by Fianna Fáil and we lost a number of years of input of new gardaí in addition to retirements. Thankfully, the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government was able to re-open the training college and we have seen a number of new gardaí coming onto the beat.

I have huge admiration for the ordinary garda on the street who puts his or her life on the line on a weekly basis to protect the public. They must have a certain amount of confidence in their superiors so that, if they are given information by commissioners, they know it is truthful and factual. At the time, was the instruction that there was no funding for overtime until the end of December truthful and factual? Gardaí have to have trust in their superiors.

This has done the morale of the force no good whatsoever. Let us think of a garda sitting at home listening to news reports all day long saying there is no cash for overtime, yet that garda is rostered for overtime in the coming days and weeks. We cannot have this. I know the Minister and senior gardaí were distracted over the last couple of days but we cannot allow this to happen.

We have huge admiration for the community gardaí who are operating from Ballyfermot to Ballymun and from Ringsend to Phibsborough, who go out daily and work to build up trust. However, we then see their morale torn apart by what the Minister seems to be saying are false reports. If they are false, action has to be taken. We cannot allow the morale of our gardaí to be destroyed in such a cavalier fashion. They have to be able to plan their lives in some way. They are ordinary workers, like ourselves, and they need to know when they will be working overtime and to have reasonable notification. They should not have to listen to the radio in the morning saying, "Gone, gone, gone. You are doing nothing until next January." That is totally unacceptable.

While the Minister is in the House I will ask him a question which I do not expect him to respond to now but to take it away and think about it. We have seen rising traffic levels right across the major urban centres and the roads are getting busier and busier. In the past, during the month of December we had Operation Freeflow, where garda recruits came up to the city and helped traffic to move, kept the bus lanes and yellow boxes clear, and assisted in regard to breathalyser tests, drink driving and all of that. We need that now. The traffic levels in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick are back to the pre-boom era levels. We want to see our citizens getting to work safely and quickly and to make sure there are adequate breathalyser test resources. I suggest that the Minister would have a discussion in the next day or two with the Minister for transport, Deputy Ross, and consider using the Garda recruits in the urban centres to ensure the traffic moves during this busy period. It is important for the traders in those cities and towns that traffic moves and that shoppers can get in and spend their money, and create a little bit of prosperity and further employment. The Minister should take that message away tonight and consider how he could work with the Minister, Deputy Ross, to ensure that, as far as possible, the traffic in our major urban centres flows. I would be grateful if the Minister could come back to me on that issue.

In regard to the reports on the Garda overtime ban, I ask the Minister to be very clear and to the point. Alarms bells go off with me when I hear, "It is the responsibility of the Garda Commissioner". I certainly do not want to start asking FOI questions to the Minister's Department in regard to what correspondence was sent by the Garda Commissioner in regard to overtime. The Minister has put the money in place. Let the message go out tonight from this House that there is no problem with money and that there is money to pay for overtime tonight, tomorrow night, Saturday night and Sunday night, and that gardaí can at least be assured they are not going to be turned around and told, "Go home. We haven't the money to pay for you."