Vol. 233 No. 9
andMr. Coughlan asked the Minister for Justice the circumstances in which a police escort was provided for a haulier (name supplied) from Limerick on the 19th March; whether he is aware that escorts were changed at county boundaries; and whether he was consulted in regard to such arrangements.
40.
andMr. Coughlan asked the Minister for Justice if he will state the circumstances under which gardaí were provided as escorts for vehicles which have attempted to pass the pickets at present placed on a company (name supplied).
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to answer Questions Nos. 39 and 40 together.
The Garda have a duty to take all reasonable measures to prevent possible breaches of the peace in circumstances where a dispute between groups of persons is in progress.
The standard measures taken by the local gardaí in the cases referred to by the Deputies, which included the provision of escorts for vehicles entering and leaving the premises, were in pursuance of their ordinary duty. There was no need for them to look for instructions from me and, in fact, they did not do so.
As mentioned in the question, there were changes of escorts across the country on the night in question. Is the Minister aware that, at 3 a.m., the vehicle, escorted by gardaí, went through the town of Nenagh without any lights at 57 miles per hour? Has the Minister any comment to make on that?
I have no comment to make on what the Deputy alleges. If he is referring to a breach of speeding regulations, I do not know if that is so. If the matter has been reported by the Deputy, no doubt it will be investigated.
Does the Minister think that, in the circumstances of this dispute, gardaí should be involved in a trade dispute which, as the Minister is aware, concerns a breach of established industrial relations conventions in this country? In such circumstances, does the Minister think it proper that the taxpayers' money, as well as the time of the gardaí, should be used in this case?
The gardaí are not involved in this or any other trade dispute. Their duty always has been to keep the peace. That is what they are doing in the circumstances of this particular dispute.
It is our regret that the valuable time of the gardaí is wasted in connection with this dispute. They have more important work to do than merely to protect a company which wishes to ignore our industrial relations law.
The Garda escort might not have been necessary if those concerned had not got into a car and followed the particular lorry on this occasion. In these circumstances, the gardaí would be in breach of duty unless they anticipated trouble and followed in order to keep the peace.
Does the Minister not agree that strikers have a right to watch where a car of this kind is going?
The Deputy knows as well as I do the difference between peaceful picketing and watching and besetting, and a car following one of the company's vehicles
That is not besetting.
They thought there might be a breach of the peace and followed the car.
Had the people not every right to do so?
I am sure they had, so long as they did not commit a breach of the peace. Nobody stopped them from following the vehicle in question. The gardaí saw them follow another vehicle and naturally, in the circumstances of the dispute, felt it their duty to follow and to see that there would be no breach of the peace
Was there a garda protecting a plane from Britain that landed on the same premises?
That is a separate question. I have no information.
Question No. 41.
Can I have an assurance that the gardaí will not be used to assist people in breaking the speed regulations?
That is a separate question.
