Updated, 19:33
THE BODY representing rank and file members of the Garda Siochána has formally passed a motion of no confidence in the Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter.
The central executive committee of the Garda Representative Association passed the motion at a meeting this afternoon.
The association also passed a motion urgently asking the Garda commissioner Martin Callinan to “publicly addresses the negative effect to Garda morale resulting from speculative proposals to cut Garda pay and other proposed changes to working conditions”.
This evening Callinan said he had arranged to meet with the GRA and its members “very soon, to the concerns and issues raised by the membership to their representatives.”
Separate motions passed at today’s meeting also called on Callinan to outline immediately whether he believed a reduction to Garda pay would have a negative effect on policing.
The GRA, which acts in lieu of Gardaí being barred from formal trade unions, also passed a resolution stating its belief that Callinan was “unaware of the impact of pay cuts and lack of resources on his workforce”.
It has sought an urgent meeting to give the Garda Commissioner a “first-hand account” of the difficulties being encountered by Gardaí across the country.
Today’s news follows similar motions of no confidence being passed at district GRA meetings around the country in the past few weeks.
Several districts have passed motions backing industrial action – most prominently the so-called ‘blue flu’ tactic of encouraging staff to phone in sick – after the government indicated plans to change Garda pay and working conditions in preliminary talks on public pay.
The government has committed to finding €1 billion in further savings under the terms of the Croke Park Agreement by 2015.
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