GARDA COMMISSIONER MARTIN Callinan is due to meet with the central executive committee of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) today to discuss the impact of proposed cuts on the force.
The committee will meet with Callinan at Garda Headquarters in Dublin this morning at 11am. Speaking ahead of the meeting, President of the GRA, John Parker told TheJournal.ie that members have asked the association to “convey their dire financial circumstances to the Commissioner and see what he has to say”.
“We’re looking for him to state that the level has been reached as regards morale,” he said. “You need petrol in the tank just as much as you need morale in your belly.”
On Monday evening, members of the GRA attended the 24/7 Frontline Alliance rally where Parker said the Commissioner and Minister Alan Shatter “will have seen the turnout as regards numbers”.
“The minister will have seen last night the issues discussed and the calls for him to make a special case,” he said. “There has to be some kind of recognition for the work that our members do. There’s only a certain level they can take before the risks aren’t worth taking and the job isn’t worth it anymore, so we push back.”
Despite calls from Shatter for the groups representing gardaí to return to talks on the Croke Park Agreement, the GRA has maintained that it will not negotiate on any proposals to cut pay.
Plans are now in place for industrial action by gardaí, to start this Friday, which would see them “turn off the goodwill tap” if the government pushes forward with its proposals.
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