Letters to the Editor: Gardaí burned out by 12-hour shifts are unable to do proper policing
'Policing should firstly and foremost be about the prevention and detection of crime, something apparently alien to the thoughts of inspectors and superintendents countrywide,' writes soon to be former garda Séamus Kelly. Picture: Dan Linehan
I’m a soon to be former garda at the point of leaving the organisation after almost 20 years of service; there are a number of issues driving me from my job.
The changes for new recruits implemented for all public servants in around 2013 ensured that people joining after that point would:
- Be on lower starting wages;
- Take longer to get to the top wage level;
- Have their pension calculated differently so that overall they will earn less while working and have a lesser pension at the end, all while carrying out the same duties and facing the same dangers as colleagues who joined before 2013.
I have repeatedly advised people thinking of joining An Garda Síochána, who have asked for my opinion, to look elsewhere and find a role where they can have self respect and dignity and freedom to control their career progression without barriers being put in their way by others with spiteful intent.
For myself I have a wife and son to support, anything else I do will pay less than I can earn as a garda, however, the wages aren’t enough for me to tolerate these over-long and exhausting 12-hour shifts, the constant demands and endless tasks that require sitting in front of a computer for hours at a time; the difficulty of just investigating crime — getting time to make enquiries or check for CCTV is impossible under current working conditions.
Investigations are stagnating while gardaí are continually taking on further investigations on a daily basis, covering larger geographical areas due to the lack of resources.
The management structure is dysfunctional with no accountability for failure above the rank of garda.
Supervisors and managers are constantly in meetings, either on Zoom or in other stations than their own, and are otherwise engaged and do nothing to support or assist the struggling gardaí under their supervision. Requests for time to be allocated for investigative purposes are ignored.
I’ve been burnt out for years, struggling to keep going despite physical and mental exhaustion, pushing myself to keep showing up in spite of being desperately in need of rest.
People I’ve dealt with have witnessed me struggling to stay awake, unshaven and scruffy, unable to think clearly or remember details due to the level of fatigue I experience. When I have tried to raise this with supervisors I’ve been laughed at and dismissed without any consideration for the validity of what I say.
The movement of personnel out of An Garda Síochána will continue unless those at the top wake up to what the people actually doing the work are going through and address the elephant in the room.
The current operating model that is being implemented is a failure that has eroded the ability of gardaí to do their job and does nothing to improve their service to the public.
There will continue to be further reductions in garda numbers, which will mean longer waiting times for the public, or no response at all, and more frustrations with delays in progressing investigations being inevitable.
Basing management decisions on business models and implementing procedures and policies from outside organisations does nothing to improve policing. The focus on statistical information as being the end goal is failing to adequately manage resources.
Policing should not be about generating data for management to utilise while attending meetings or seeking promotion.
Policing should firstly and foremost be about the prevention and detection of crime, something apparently alien to the thoughts of inspectors and superintendents countrywide.
I always wanted to be a garda, I first applied in 1997 and got to the interview stage, but failed at that point, and had to later reapply in 2004.
The day I swore to uphold the laws of this State and received my badge was one of my proudest. However, to get to this stage of my life and feel the way I do is highly disappointing. This was never how I saw things working out.
We are well advised to look very hard when assessing politicians’ election blandishments. We are sure to be overwhelmed with pledges in the coming weeks.
The promises from An Taoiseach, Simon Harris as reported — ‘Fine Gael pledges to ‘put money back in pockets’ in upcoming budget’ (Irish Examiner, September 11) — are extraordinary in their range. Along with “cutting the cost of raising a family through reduced taxes, assistance with the cost of school and college, and helping with bills including energy, transport, and rent”, Mr Harris added for good measure, “building homes, delivering homeownership, supporting farmers and businesses, building infrastructure, investing in disability services, investing in An Garda Síochána, and ensuring the migration system is ‘more efficient’.”
All of which suggests that after a decade-and-a-half in power, Fine Gael has only just realised that the country is suffering serious social ills.
What they haven’t yet got to grips with it seems, is the fact that the majority of citizens are now sure that the current problems were brought about by FG’s own, “everyman-for-himself” ideology that drove government policy over their period in office.
Reports and stories abound that lay bare some appalling statistics that need urgent and meaningful attention: The housing crisis continues to worsen; according to a recent ERSI report, 230,000 children are living in poverty; mental health services are chronically underfunded.
Given the appalling suffering caused by government failures in these three areas alone, it is surely very obvious where the vast majority of any “ budget surplus” should be spent — building social and affordable homes at scale, closing the income gap, and building resilient public services.
Budget 2025 is a golden opportunity for this government to leave a lasting legacy. Preparing the country for the future by addressing social deficits is the best way to achieve that.
I am aware that Darragh O’Brien is the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, therefore Seanad reform falls under his remit.
The minister brought a bill to Cabinet on Tuesday that will allow graduates of all higher institutions to vote in Seanad elections.
Ostensibly, this bill is intended to extend Seanad voting rights to up to one million graduates which means that graduates of all higher education institutions will be allowed to vote in Seanad elections.
I have never been an advocate of this elitist system of election.
It’s my contention that every citizen in this country should have a right to exercise their franchise instead of the so called academic, intellectual cohort. I believe that these antediluvian third-level votes should be immediately disbanded.
May I suggest that our housing minister gives 100% of his concentration to the housing crisis in this country.
Anything else is to my mind an unwelcome digression.
It’s coming up to budget time — and the Government is looking for ways to ‘put money back in people’s pockets’. There’s a very simple way the Government could put €160 back in the pocket of almost every household this autumn: scrap the TV licence once and for all.
This would be the best way to trim down and streamline RTÉ’s performance. Giving it a handout from the Exchequer is just a recipe for another round of ‘revelations’ in years to come. It can still raise revenue from advertising and subscriptions like other media outlets.
Most younger people get their news elsewhere these days yet must subsidise RTÉ if they have a TV. What do we need a ‘national broadcaster’ for when we don’t even have a national flagship airline anymore? Aer Lingus, which predates RTÉ by almost 30 years, was sold to the International Airlines Group by 2015 and is now fully privatised, while RTÉ continues to be subsidised with licence fee and the Exchequer.
It’s been argued by the Government that having a national broadcaster is necessary for ‘reliable’ news. For a start, everyone has their own idea of what ‘reliable news’ is; but if that is the rationale, surely having a ‘reliable’ means of leaving this island country was an equally valid reason for retaining our national airline in public ownership?
Given successive governments’ addiction to keeping RTÉ on life support raises the inescapable question of ‘what is the government getting out of it?’, or as Cicero famously said: ‘Cui bono?’
