GARDAI in Donegal have said they will be reluctant to work at major events in the county after having to wait five months to be paid following the Irish Open. 

 

A substantial number of Gardai were affected in the pay dispute and they were considering bringing the case before the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) under the non-payment of wages act. The have finally been paid in the last two weeks but the delay may impact Garda involvement in future events in Donegal. 

 

Speaking to the Donegal News this week, Brendan O’Connor, the Donegal spokesperson for the Garda Representative Association (GRA) said they have been given no explanation as to why the delay occurred.  Gardai from Donegal as well as from outside the county put themselves forward to cover the event expecting to be paid their overtime. 

 

However, Mr O’Connor said the delay and lack of communication with their HR Department has caused serious frustration among the members. 

 

He said: “We were given no reason and we don’t understand why. No other workers would be expected to put up with this. We had to raise this at provisional level, regional level and even nationally and the questions remain unanswered. A significant number of Donegal Gardai were affected and some outside the county in Sligo.”

 

Mr O’Connor said the members feel very demoralised having given their time to help make the event a major success but then were forced to wait such a long time to be paid. 

 

“They put their shoulders to the wheel to make this event a success,” added Mr O’Connor.

“We have not been given a satisfactory explanation. Individual members have said to me that they would be reluctant in the future to put themselves forward for events because they have no confidence and there is no transparency in when they will get paid.”

 

Mr O’Connor said they were also not involved in planning for the event. He said no consultation happened with Garda members locally which is the norm before an event of that size happens. He said the normal procedure would be to sit down three months prior to the event and address any issues but he said they weren’t afforded that opportunity. He said they also were not afforded the opportunity of a de-briefing after the event.