Peadar Tóibín
Question:47. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Justice if she has met with the Garda Representative Association over concerns regarding changes in rostering [60309/22]
View answerTuesday, 6 December 2022
Questions (47)
Written answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Garda Commissioner is responsible for the management and administration of An Garda Síochána, which includes the deployment and rostering of staff. As Minister, I have no role in the management of these functions, nor have I had any engagement with the Garda Representative Association or any other Garda association in respect of the matters referred to by the Deputy.
The Commission on the Future of Policing concluded that Garda rostering arrangements should be replaced by tailored rosters that work better for both police and the communities they serve.
The current Garda roster was introduced by the Commissioner to deal with the specific policing requirements that arose during the Covid pandemic. The current roster was always intended by the Commissioner to be a temporary roster, to be replaced in due course by a revised roster. The Commissioner has confirmed that the current roster will remain in place until 22 January 2023.
I am informed by the Commissioner that following a process under an independent facilitator between Garda management and the Garda Associations, proposals were put forward by the facilitator to provide a basis to move forward on roster reform. All parties were given 8 weeks to consider the proposals. I am further informed that the Commissioner has since met with the Garda Associations in relation to progressing this matter.