CALLS HAVE BEEN made for gender quotas in the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.

Peter Duffy, an Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors representative from Donegal, has called for that better representative on gender quotas on the national executive of the organisation.

Duffy has said there has been repeated calls for this by Donegal branch members but that now was the right time to act on the motion.

“It is not the first time that I or the Donegal branch has raised the issue about the constitution which is effectively the rules that govern our association. They date back to 2004. We are in a different space now.

“The rules are really not fit for purpose, particularly for the proper governance of an association like the AGSI so I think it is time that we have a completely new look at ourselves and that we are governed properly and there is proper oversight,” he said. 

Duffy said it was important for the AGSI to reflect broader society and the garda organisation.

“I think the problems are that the current constitution comes from a different era and the organisation has moved on, society has moved on and I just think that we need to.

“One issue in particular is that we need to reflect the make-up of our organisation a lot better.

“AGSI is quite a male organisation so we do need to look at bringing in quotas for female representation. I think it is something that brings us into the 21st century.

“You could possibly put in some sort of a section in it (the organisation’s constitution) that we have to have let’s say 20% female representation on our executive, something that reflects the general make up.

“In Donegal where I am from, I think 20% of our sergeants and inspectors are female, yet that is not reflected in the executive of the association.”

Duffy also called for a similar quota system to be put in place for different ethnicity.

“The numbers are quite small still in our association in particular and it is going to take time for people of various backgrounds to move up in the organisation but we need to put in the foundations now that will allow those people to progress within the association.

“We need to make it more attractive for people because they need as much representation as I do in the issues that we are trying to raise in the association.”