Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Garda Commissioner presented in front of the Garda Representative Association, GRA, in Westport yesterday. The issue of rostering of gardaí for both the GRA and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, is a major problem and we have known for some time that it is a problem. The Commissioner said he is not the only one who has to compromise. It strikes me that he is not willing to compromise because, going back to my trade union days, people who are willing to compromise sit around a table and they thrash out their differences. We have known for some time that the AGSI and GRA are opposed to what the Commissioner is trying to introduce. I ask that the Minister for Justice be contacted - I will contact him myself as well - with a view to him asking the Garda Commissioner to convene a meeting of the representative bodies, and let us try and put this to rest.

Our gardaí go out on the streets every evening not knowing if they will come home that night or if they will finish up in hospital because of some thuggery that goes on in our society. We depend on our gardaí on Christmas day and every day to be there, to face down the criminals of this country, to face down situations that none of us would like to face. I recall the situation of my own brother as a young garda.He was 19 at the time and his first duty was to tell a family that their son had been killed. That is the sort of thing they face daily so I plead with the Commissioner to sit down with the two representative organisations and sort this out. We will never sort it out on Twitter or in the public domain. It needs to happen around a table.