McDowell Forcing Gardai to Become Paper Pushing Baby-Sitters

Press Release, 13th April 2006

Deputy Catherine Murphy (Ind) has demanded that Minister Michael McDowell stop constraining the Gardai and allow them to do the job they were hired for.  Her comments came in relation to the proposed introduction of a Garda reserve, which many fear will become a hindrance to the Gardai on the street; the introduction of ASBO’s which it is thought will significantly increase the administrative workload of Gardai; and the low level commitment by Government to increase the number of civilian positions in order to free up members of the Gardai for policing duties.

“It’s outrageous that on one hand the Minister talks about clamping down on crime and on the other strong-arms the introduction of measures that actively remove Gardai from the street to desks” – Murphy

The North Kildare TD has questioned the Minister in the Dáil regarding the moves he has made or intends to make in order to recruit further civilian staff to alleviate administrative pressure on Gardai, thus allowing them to engage more in policing duties.  However she has expressed strong opposition to the proposed introduction of ASBO’s for various reasons, but where the Gardai are concerned with regard to the level of paper work that such orders will create for the rank and file.  “It’s absurd to bring in a measure aimed at curtailing Anti-Social Behaviour but which has the effect of tying Gardai up in bureaucratic administration duties.  Surely these man-hours would be more effective if they were invested in community policing and patrolling rather than paper pushing” stated Murphy.

She concluded in highlighting that concerns have been raised with her that if the much debated reserve force is introduced many Gardaí will have the added pressure and workload of ensuring the safety and competency of their volunteer peers, which will detract from their ability to police effectively.  “The job of the Gardai is difficult enough” stated Murphy, “without expecting them to concentrate on what their volunteer partner is getting up to.  The point of partnering members of the Gardai is surely to ensure that members have support when needed, but with the introduction of a volunteer reserve force surely this support structure will be weakened and both the Garda and Reserve will feel the consequences”.

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Posted by catherinemurphy on January 31, 2007. Filed under In the Dáil,Law, Justice, Defence & Policing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.