Moves to cut deal as gardaí brace for pay increments’ freeze

GARDA chiefs and the Department of Justice are trying to cut a quick deal to avoid a threatened stoppage of annual increment pay rises for gardaí from next month.

Earlier this year the majority of gardaí withdrew from the 30 extra unpaid hours they worked since the Haddington Road pay deal in 2013. They rejected the new Lansdowne Road deal over a belief that the authorities had reneged on a promised pay review.

The Government maintains that it will stick by that agreement and the decision to withhold incremental pay rises for members who do not sign up.

The abandoned extra hours is worth about €4.5m in reduced overtime costs.

The Government is looking for a way out of the confrontation over the withdrawal of increment pay rises. The lack of new recruits and low morale means that gardaí are unlikely to restart working an extra 30 unpaid hours.

Workplace Relations Commission mediators have been called in in a bid to get Garda representative bodies to do a U-turn. Given the tense relations over recruitment and pay scales this is not likely before the July deadline.

When it moves to stop increments in four weeks, it will increase officer anger and may be seen as a confrontational move by the Department of Justice. Already the force is reeling from the O’Higgins Report.

The ‘extra free hours’ ban has led to an overtime bill to cover some 300,000 ‘free’ hours worked last year.

This weekend the Department of Public Expenditure told the MoS that the public sector deal is the only basis for any pay increases and agreed reforms until 2018.

Looking for way out of confrontation