Doherty backs Gardaí as GRA announces overtime withdrawal

Fine Gael MEP Regina Doherty has backed the Garda Representative Association following its announcement that members will withdraw from overtime on five dates in October.

 Doherty said that the GRA has been “fighting for years for basic rights.”

“Fair treatment, the ability to negotiate pay and working conditions on behalf of its members, and a meaningful way to resolve disputes. It is a shame that Gardaí have been driven to industrial action to be heard,” she said.

“The treatment of a GRA representative who spoke publicly about members’ concerns, with the threat of disciplinary action hanging over them, was shocking. I have written to Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan about that treatment and urged him to intervene. It has only deepened the breakdown in trust between Garda management and its members.”

The Dublin MEP said “the GRA and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have brought their concerns about collective bargaining and industrial relations to the European Parliament. I have met their representatives, and I am working with colleagues to progress the issues they have raised through the parliamentary process.”

“The Minister must now help bring Garda management and the GRA together to resolve this dispute. Gardaí put themselves, and sometimes their lives, on the line for us every day. We must protect those who protect us.”