The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has threatened to withdraw cooperation from the policing operation for Ireland's EU presidency next year.
The association, which represents over 11,000 rank-and-file gardaí, said it will not attend any garda planning meetings for the presidency until issues over suspension and entitlements have been resolved.
An emergency motion was introduced and passed at the GRA annual conference in Killarney, Co Kerry this afternoon.
The mood was militant among gardaí at the conference, which they said reflects their anger and frustration at the way they are being treated.
Gardaí from all over the country complained that their injury-on-duty payments are being reduced, travel and subsistence rates for duty away from home are insufficient, and the current suspension policy is unjust, without external safeguards and puts people in limbo for years.
Garda headquarters said this morning there are currently 96 members of An Garda Síochána suspended, out of 14,200 gardaí.
Of these, ten are suspended for assault/assault causing harm, 12 for domestic violence/coercive control, eight for sexual assault/sexual misconduct, and 17 for driving under the influence of an intoxicant.
"Is the GRA saying these gardaí shouldn’t be suspended for such alleged serious offences?" a spokesman asked.
More than half of those suspended are for serious offences such as sexual assault, domestic violence, coercive control and drink or drug driving.
Ireland will hold the EU presidency from July to December 2026, during which Irish ministers will be required to lead EU meetings, steer the legislative and policy agenda and interact with other EU institutions.
Irish officials will also be required to chair up to 170 council preparatory bodies, as many as three a day.
Garda Brendan O’Connor said gardaí are not threatening industrial action and not withdrawing their labour; they are simply not cooperating until their issues are addressed.
Some delegates, while agreeing with the sentiment, expressed reservations.
Former GRA president Jim Mulligan, a garda in Blackrock, Co Dublin, pointed out that the Government was not going to cancel the presidency and garda management were going to plan it, with or without rank-and-file gardaí.
He told delegates that gardaí should participate because if they were not involved in the planning, members would suffer and could, in some cases, be left standing on the side of a road for hours on end.
'Fear and mistrust'
Earlier, the GRA described the legacy of outgoing Commissioner Drew Harris as one of "fear and mistrust".
Mr Harris is due to retire in September, but the GRA refused for a second consecutive year to invite him to their annual conference.
Commissioner Harris said he remained open to productive and fruitful engagement.
GRA General Secretary Ronan Slevin said the Commissioner has "removed community policing from Ireland which was the envy of Europe".
He also said Commissioner Harris had the biggest budget available to him over his term of office, but there are serious issues in relation to recruitment and retention.
He said that the Commissioner is responsible for "the application of a severe discipline and suspension policy which has hampered our members in utilising or being confident in the use of force when doing their job".
The Commissioner defended his record, pointing out that he had successfully petitioned for an increase in the penalty from seven to 12 years for assaulting a garda or prison officer, increased the retirement age, rolled out over 700 body cameras and provided additional resources and equipment including stronger incapacitant spray and new garda vehicles.
Decision to not invite Commissioner 'a mistake' - Taoiseach
Taoiseach Micheál Martin said the GRA's decision not to invite the Commissioner to the conference was "a mistake".
Speaking in the Dáil today, he said: "There should always be engagement."
"There's no-one boycotting, as Opposition deputies have asserted," he said of the non-attendance of the minister for justice at the conference.
Mr Martin said: "The minister is in a very difficult position if the Garda Commissioner has not been invited.
"There's a better way of doing things."
During Taoiseach's Questions, Sinn Féin TD Paul Lawless said it was unacceptable that the minister was not attending "for the second year in a row".
