asked the Minister for Justice the date from which the rent allowance for members of the Garda Síochána was abolished and substituted by an increase in pay, and the reasons for this decision.
7.
Ceisteanna—Question. Oral Answers. - Garda Síochána Rent Allowance and Payment for Accommodation.
6.
asked the Minister for Justice the basis on which the deduction for quarters from members of the Garda Síochána was calculated at £1 per week.
8.
asked the Minister for Justice whether he is aware that the recent decision to abolish the rent allowance for members of the Garda Síochána and the substitution therefor of an increase of pay has caused great dissatisfaction; that members of the force are liable in full for income tax on the increase of £65 per year and, in addition, have to pay £52 per year for accommodation; and that these factors result in a worsening of their pay conditions; and if he will have the position reviewed with a view to having these grievances redressed.
9.
asked the Minister for Justice whether he has seen a report of the conditions under which certain members of the Garda Síochána have to live in barracks, and for which they are charged an accommodation fee of £1 per week; whether he has had the matter investigated; and if to allay public uneasiness he will make a statement on it.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 to 9 together.
These questions relate to a recent alteration in the pay structure of members of the Force resulting from consideration by the Garda Conciliation Council of claims relating to rent allowance. The Garda Conciliation Council, the Garda representatives of which consisted of one Chief Superintendent, one superintendent and two members of Garda rank, is part of the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme which was set up in June, 1959, to provide a means acceptable to the Government and Garda Síochána for the determination of claims and proposals relating to certain conditions of service of members of the Force up to and includ-the rank of chief superintendent. The scheme provides that matters within the scope of the scheme will be dealt with exclusively through the machinery of the scheme. The matters appropriate to the scheme are:
(a) claims relating to pay and allowances and other emoluments whether in cash or in kind,
(b) hours of duty and periods of annual leave,
(c) standards of accommodation officially provided.
(d) principles governing the payment of superannuation allowances.
Following consideration of the claims relating to rent allowance, the Garda Conciliation Council recommended:
(a) the abolition of rent allowance,
(b) the insertion in pay of additional elements in respect of rent allowance of the following amounts:
|
Chief superintendents and superintendents |
£110 p.a. |
|
Inspectors |
£80 p.a. |
|
Station sergeants, sergeants, and Gardaí, |
£65 p.a. |
(c) deductions, equivalent to four-fifths of the additional elements, from the pay of each member for whom or, if married, for whose family suitable official quarters are available.
This recommendation was accepted by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Justice on the 21st December, 1960, and became effective from that date. A new Pay and Allowances Order to give statutory effect to the recommendation has been made.
Prior to the acceptance of the recommendation of the Garda Conciliation Council the position was that where suitable official accommodation was available it was provided free for members and their families; otherwise a taxable and non-pensionable allowance was paid. In the case of Sergeants and Guards the maximum amounts payable ranged from £27 4s. 6d. to £61 17s. 6d. per annum, depending on outgoings and location. Of about 2,100 members, paying for rented accommodation, more than 600 were receiving an allowance of less than £32 and more than 1,100 were receiving an allowance of less than £37 10s.
The position, as a result of the acceptance of the recommendation of the Garda Conciliation Council, is that these allowances have been abolished and that, instead, every Sergeant and Guard receives a taxable and pensionable pay-addition of £65 per annum, but those who are provided with free quarters are required to pay back £52 of the addition. Apart from the substantial increases in pay which a large proportion of the members of the Force are in receipt of as a result of this change, the superannuation grants for every member have been considerably enhanced. For instance, a Guard with 33 years' service retiring to-day will receive £32 10s. more in his annual pension and £108 more in his gratuity than he would have received had he retired prior to the change.
Some appreciation of the cost to the State of the acceptance of the Garda Conciliation Council's recommendation in relation to rent allowance may be gathered from the fact that, whereas a sum of £180,000 in the Estimates for next year would have been sufficient to meet expenditure if rent allowances had continued to be paid, the net sum now to be provided in the Pay Sub-head is £314,000, while the extra provision for pensions and gratuities will be in the region of another £50,000. Pension charge is a recurring burden and it is estimated that in eight years' time the annual increased cost for pensions and gratuities will have risen to £150,000.
With regard to the accommodation provided for members of the Force, the question of "standards of accommodation" is, as I have stated, a matter which comes within the scope of the Conciliation and Arbitration Scheme and falls to be dealt with exclusively through the machinery of the scheme. No claim or proposal relating to the matter has been submitted by the Garda side and pending the determination of any such claim or proposal questions as to the suitability of official quarters will be decided on the same basis as heretofore.
I wonder does the Minister appreciate that, in operation, the alteration in the pay structure in respect of unmarried Gardaí for whom accommodation is provided, resulted in a net decrease in their annual salary, and is a source of grave resentment on the part of many of these young unmarried Gardaí? The Minister will be aware that, heretofore, accommodation was provided free of charge and that these men now have to pay £52 per annum for a room. The £65 salary increase, which was supposed to offset that £52, because of its liability to income tax, has resulted in a net decrease of some pounds in their annual salaries.
Is the Minister further aware that as well as paying £52 per annum for the room in the station, they also have to pay 8d. per unit for electricity used in the room, in the hallway or on the staircase to the room? They have to pay out of their own pockets for having the room cleaned, and where washing facilities are provided—and in some places they are not provided— they are absolutely and totally inadequate. I wonder if the Minister has visited any of these provincial stations recently. If he has, I am sure he will agree with me that, while in many cases they are structurally sound, in the matter of furnishing, flooring and washing facilities, they are absolutely and totally inadequate. Would the Minister undertake to have an investigation carried out into these matters, because they are a source of what I regard as quite genuine and rectifiable grievances on the part of young unmarried Gardaí?
From now on, all these matters will have to be discussed and settled through the medium of conciliation or arbitration, or both. In respect of the matters to which the Deputy has referred, that was a question the Garda Representative Body took up specially themselves. That was discussed at conciliation level. They were so satisfied themselves with the equity of the decision that it never went to arbitration. It was agreed to at conciliation level. I would have to presume that, while some Gardaí might be affected to some degree in the manner the Deputy refers to, in the main, the Garda have succeeded in a considerable betterment of their conditions. There is now a flat rate. Previously the rate could be as low as £17 odd, graduating upwards to, I think, £60 odd. Now there is a flat rate for everybody, for rural as well as for town Gardaí, of £65.
Would the Minister invite the Conciliation Council to have another look at the grievance?
That would not be for the Minister.
In this award, it is now provided that Gardaí, in certain circumstances, live in and pay £1 a week. Is the Minister satisfied that, now that they have to pay £1 a week, they are getting a bed long enough for them, with a respectable mattress?
They are not.
Coming from an average Irish home, a 6 ft. recruit to the Garda Síochána is entitled to a bed into which he will fit and to a mattress through which he will not feel the slats of the bed. If the Minister is satisfied about that, I am satisfied. However, if the Minister inquires into it, even as superficially as I have done, I think he will discover that some of the beds are not big enough and that many Gardaí can feel the slats of the bed through the mattress on which they are required to lie. May I recommend the provision of a Dunlopillo mattress?
That is advertising.
I provided it in Athenry Agricultural College and I never had any complaint about it thereafter.