Benefits of being a Garda

02-07-2021 1:13pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

is rent allowance defo gone?? i thought it was brought back a few years ago

also just wondering, does your car insurance go up or down if you state your occupation as a Guard

It was amalgamated into core pay. Something they should do with all the allowances so people could stop exaggerating them.

I have heard both but I believe there is a discount for having an advanced driving course but as I am still waiting for one, I cant be sure.

Marty1476 · 02-07-2021 1:18pm

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

It was amalgamated into core pay. Something they should do with all the allowances so people could stop exaggerating them.

I have heard both but I believe there is a discount for having an advanced driving course but as I am still waiting for one, I cant be sure.

thanks for that, i have savings set aside so i can afford to live on €184 a week for the duration but just trying to figure out if there are any pitfalls i haven't accounted for such as a higher rate of insurance. ive also been told that you need to fork out €480 off the bat for tracksuit, gee, dress shoes etc.

any other expenses you might know of that joe public about to join wouldnt know about?

02-07-2021 1:22pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

thanks for that, i have savings set aside so i can afford to live on €184 a week for the duration but just trying to figure out if there are any pitfalls i haven't accounted for such as a higher rate of insurance. ive also been told that you need to fork out €480 off the bat for tracksuit, gee, dress shoes etc.

any other expenses you might know of that joe public about to join wouldnt know about?

Unfortunately, while not as ancient as Dohville, Im a long time gone from Templemore. At the time, those costs were very real.

You will need savings unless you plan to live light and with your parents at weekends.

After training, I personally dont know how the new lads do it, **** all pay, rent and bills but dont appear bothered with overtime while having a night out when off. Meanwhile dopey here is taking any hours he can get to bring the kids to Eurodisney and not a consolation Shandy in sight!

endacl · 02-07-2021 1:47pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

ive also been told that you need to fork out €480 off the bat for tracksuit, gee, dress shoes etc.

:eek:

whomadewho · 02-07-2021 2:38pm

Dohvolle wrote: »

Not actually correct there.
Pension is since 1995, something you find through your own wages. You also have to pay an extra levy because you are a PS worker.
Overtime is rare, it is also very heavily taxed.
You have to do 30 years service or retire at 57, comes last. I.E if you join at 30, you must retire at 57, unless you have been promoted to higher rank in between. That means you have a smaller pension than those who did the full 30 years. If you join at 20 you will still have to wait until you are 57 to retire. If you go before then you won't get pension until you reach 57. Because at 57 you are getting a pension, if you decide to get another job, you are heavily taxed because your earnings include your garda pension.
Leave...Take holidays when you don't have to go to court, almost impossible if you are active.
Sick leave no different to the rest of the Public sector. You have to be sick first. More commonly you are off because of the job, either injury or stress related illness.
Anyone who is a member can get loans from the Garda Credit union. It is no different to any other credit union, apart from the fact, because of it's membership, it is one of the largest in the country. You still have to pay back the loan. Without it, most young gardai would be homeless and starving. (Note: You can be dismissed from the force for being declared in debt, i.e if you default on a finance payment).
Westmanstown? Thats **** all use to you when you are stationed in Glenties, Clifden or Sneem.

The op asked for benifits of working in the Guards. What I listed were benifits.

He could get a job in the private sector where.
You have no job security,
(I was out of work for 3 years during last recession trying to pay a boom time mortgage. Doing what ever I could to keep the head about water)

Low wages starting off, graduate usually starts on 24 to 28 grand depending on the industry. Which will rise substantially over the next couple of years not unlike the Guards.

May or may not have the option of overtime.
(No option for overtime in my profession)

A pension may or may not be provided by the company.
(Mine does now but my previous employer didn't. Only 50% of private companies provide pension provision)

He will have to work until he is at least 68 before he can drawn down the old age pension if a company pension is not provided

You will have to work at least 40 years compared to 30 in the Guards.
(Obviously people are joing the Guards into their 30 now so they are not retiring at 50 anymore but they can still retire after 30 year services)

20 days is the average holiday in private compared to 30 in the Guards

Long term sick leave on full or half pay is available in the
Guards where it may not in a private company,
(If I get a serious illness I will get 1 months full pay from employer. If I canot return to work I will then I have to go down to social and claim illness benifit)

He will have access to the largest credit union in Ireland.

There is a good chance he will do a few years in Dublin when he leaves templemore so he will get the use of westmanstown if he wants.

Every job has pro's and con's.

02-07-2021 3:29pm

whomadewho wrote: »

The op asked for benifits of working in the Guards. What I listed were benifits.

He could get a job in the private sector where.
You have no job security,
(I was out of work for 3 years during last recession trying to pay a boom time mortgage. Doing what ever I could to keep the head about water)

Low wages starting off, graduate usually starts on 24 to 28 grand depending on the industry. Which will rise substantially over the next couple of years not unlike the Guards.

May or may not have the option of overtime.
(No option for overtime in my profession)

A pension may or may not be provided by the company.
(Mine does now but my previous employer didn't. Only 50% of private companies provide pension provision)

He will have to work until he is at least 68 before he can drawn down the old age pension if a company pension is not provided

You will have to work at least 40 years compared to 30 in the Guards.
(Obviously people are joing the Guards into their 30 now so they are not retiring at 50 anymore but they can still retire after 30 year services)

20 days is the average holiday in private compared to 30 in the Guards

Long term sick leave on full or half pay is available in the
Guards where it may not in a private company,
(If I get a serious illness I will get 1 months full pay from employer. If I canot return to work I will then I have to go down to social and claim illness benifit)

He will have access to the largest credit union in Ireland.

There is a good chance he will do a few years in Dublin when he leaves templemore so he will get the use of westmanstown if he wants.

Every job has pro's and con's.

Keeps swinging, keeps missing

02-07-2021 4:17pm

Dohvolle wrote: »

Why I oughtta...
Actually, it's true, there are many currently serving who were not yet born when I was in Templemore.
As a 20something during phase 1 and 3, on what was then £50 per week, my only expense was teas and sandwiches in the canner for the many evenings the dinner on offer didn't appeal to you, a few 7 ups on a thursday night and maybe a take away snuck back to the room after a wednesday after sports. I brought my laundry home (parents house) every weekend, though there were laundry services available (in the female block). I used to drive up (from Cork) on phase 3 and 5.
I had no bills to pay otherwise, had pretty good savings from my previous jobs in the Aviation sector, managed to take an overseas holiday between phase 1 and 2.
But again, I was still living in my parents house at this stage.
Once Ph4 hit, and I was on my own the costs were more of a burden. I was lucky in that I got TT to the border for 2 months which was an all expenses covered overtime sandwich. While there I still had to pay rent in my home station, and expenses didn't cover the commute back home on rest days.

A note on having to buy track suit etc up front on arrival.
Yes you have to pay out of your own pocket, but when I was there you could pay "on tick". Once you had your debt clear by the end of your first phase there was no issues. Those who had not cleared their tab suffered the consequences. Basically you would not advance to the next stage of training until your bills were paid.
Back then we paid for parade shoes (By Blackthhorn-fantastic shoes) but had to buy duty shoes (black, leather, stitched toecap-they sold Doc Martins shoes for this purpose.) unless you wanted to work with just one pair of shoes, and spend your spare time polishing them for parade.

In addition we bought runners by Asics, college tracksuit, and college sports gear, swimsuit , swim hat and goggles. Later on a Karate/judo suit was also required. All the above were provided at a very reasonable rate. The Doc Shoes only cost £20 a pair at a time when you would pay double that in the shop. You could buy Blackthorn shoes for £30, the same shoe retailed for 65 -80 at the time.
I'd suggest since then H&S would have demanded that footwear for the job are provided as part of the uniform/ppe.

Breakfast, dinner and evening meal were provided (not free as such, you paid for it from your living expense of £90 per week, which you only got on phase 2, as it was automatically deducted on phase 1 and 3.

As far as job security, 101 of us started, of which less than half are still serving. We were down to 85 by the time phase 4 started, just over a year later. If you got seriously injured (broken ankle or other injury that meant you needed crutches) you couldn't attend training and everything paused until you were passed fit by the Chief Surgeon in Garda HQ. If you failed exams you went back 3 months. Fail them or any module again (including physical fitness test), and you are out.
The first 3 years saw most departures, either by choice or by decision of the Chief Super in the college.

Good auld phase 2. Theres talk of bringing it back. Considering not a single person I know is against the idea, they wont

02-07-2021 4:41pm

Quick note on sick pay.
If you are injured on duty, you will be paid for a certain period, then it will be reduced as time goes by. Which is good, but is as it should be, if injured on duty.

Normal sick leave, should you get a serious illness, or injured outside of work, then you go on the social welfare sick system. Which kicks in after 3 days sick.

TallGlass2 · 02-07-2021 4:55pm

I went from seeing Garda cars with blue lights/sirens blazing by going I would love to be doing that, too seeing Garda cars with blue lights/sirens blazing by going thank god that is not me doing that anymore.

That said if you think its for you go for it, trust me I went to the ends of the earth to get in, there was no talking to me otherwise.

My only advise is that, if you do not like it call it a day or you'll suffer on and end up miserable and part of the furniture and worst of all not giving victims of crime the correct attention they need, if you like it great happy days.

You will be putting other avenues of your career on hold, so I would have a backup plan/career to fall back on if you decide to leave.

Eire392 · 02-07-2021 5:40pm

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

Good auld phase 2. Theres talk of bringing it back. Considering not a single person I know is against the idea, they wont

Phase two is back since covid. Spot the newbies in their little blue epaulettes

02-07-2021 6:35pm

Eire392 wrote: »

Phase two is back since covid. Spot the newbies in their little blue epaulettes

No, that's just a disgrace. Pushed out with **** all training and guidance

Eire392 · 02-07-2021 6:49pm

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

No, that's just a disgrace. Pushed out with **** all training and guidance

Yup. Not sure what training they got but very little.

Marty1476 · 02-07-2021 6:57pm

Eire392 wrote: »

Yup. Not sure what training they got but very little.

At the moment it’s three weeks online, one week in Templemore and 12 weeks in a station, after that it’s 16 weeks back to Tipp and fully attested with a BA in applied policing studies from UL

Certainly not how I want it done but beggars can’t be choosers

Witcher · 02-07-2021 7:27pm

You don't get the BA until the end of your probation.

Marty1476 · 02-07-2021 7:48pm

Witcher wrote: »

You don't get the BA until the end of your probation.

How long is probation under the new structure? I honestly don’t know

cluedo123 · 02-07-2021 8:22pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

How long is probation under the new structure? I honestly don’t know

The standard is 2 years from the date of your attestation.

Marty1476 · 02-07-2021 8:22pm

Dohvolle wrote: »

That's woeful.
We did 22 weeks in college phase 1, 14 weeks in college phase 3, and 6 weeks in college on phase 5.
Probation didn't start until the end of phase 3, and ran for 2 years after that. You only got the diploma if you wanted it. It carried credits in some IPA exam for those who wanted to go on and be management...

Absolutely agree with you! It’s not how I’d like to join the force but my hands are tied with the current structure. I’m more fortunate than other so I hope to be able to hold my water

Sierra Oscar · 02-07-2021 9:39pm

Dohvolle wrote: »

You have to do 30 years service or retire at 57, comes last. I.E if you join at 30, you must retire at 57, unless you have been promoted to higher rank in between. That means you have a smaller pension than those who did the full 30 years. If you join at 20 you will still have to wait until you are 57 to retire. If you go before then you won't get pension until you reach 57. Because at 57 you are getting a pension, if you decide to get another job, you are heavily taxed because your earnings include your garda pension.

Post 2012 entrants have to work until 55 now to avail of the full pension, even if they've done 30 years service. You can also work until 60, Commissioner ranks can stay until 65 on authorisation. If you join at 30 you can still get your full pension. It's looking like 65 will be rolled out across the ranks in the years ahead - naturally voluntarily for those already in the job. I can see the minimum retirement age being increased in the years ahead for new entrants ...

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

No, that's just a disgrace. Pushed out with **** all training and guidance

Which flies in the face of the recommendations of the various enquiries over the last decade. It's actually mind-boggling what they've done to training.

02-07-2021 11:00pm

Sierra Oscar wrote: »

Which flies in the face of the recommendations of the various enquiries over the last decade. It's actually mind-boggling what they've done to training.

A shambles. They simple are not ready to come out and tutors can't fill in that big a gap in knowledge.

Sierra Oscar · 02-07-2021 11:46pm

Niner leprauchan wrote: »

A shambles. They simple are not ready to come out and tutors can't fill in that big a gap in knowledge.

They'd be lucky if there is even a trained tutor on the unit. No courses have been run in a long time. It's been done on an ad-hoc basis.

Marty1476 · 05-07-2021 4:32pm

Quick question for serving or retired members, do they pay for your train tickets to Templemore?

I know it sounds stupid but just trying to find and account for as many expenses as I can. A return ticket from Tipp to dublin is about €40 so a big chunk of your €184

AndrewJRenko · 05-07-2021 5:23pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

At the moment it’s three weeks online, one week in Templemore and 12 weeks in a station, after that it’s 16 weeks back to Tipp and fully attested with a BA in applied policing studies from UL

Certainly not how I want it done but beggars can’t be choosers

Am I missing something here? Are you saying that a BA is awarded after 20 weeks academic work plus 16 weeks work experience - something in the ballpark of a single academic year?

What QQI level is the BA please?

Marty1476 · 05-07-2021 5:31pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Am I missing something here? Are you saying that a BA is awarded after 20 weeks academic work plus 16 weeks work experience - something in the ballpark of a single academic year?

What QQI level is the BA please?

I’m not sure when the BA is awarded, I’ve been told by others that it’s after your probation ends but ultimately yes it’s 20 weeks college and 12 weeks in a station. The training program of phase 1,2,3 etc has been turned on it arse due to covid and to get bodies out on the front line.

I don’t know what the QQI is under the new structure

05-07-2021 5:33pm

The probation last for two years.
Pretty sure they have to do a dissertation also, it was required over 20 years ago, so I'm sure it's still there.

Marty1476 · 05-07-2021 5:42pm

AndrewJRenko · 05-07-2021 7:29pm

Dohvolle wrote: »

The Railway station is easily a mile walk from the college. Usually you can get a lift, and on occasions there was a shuttle bus operating, but it's worth knowing the local story there too.

I'd be hoping that a 2km walk wouldn't be a huge problem for a Garda in training.

Marty1476 · 05-07-2021 7:33pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I'd be hoping that a 2km walk wouldn't be a huge problem for a Garda in training.

It probably would be for a few current guards ðŸ˜œðŸ˜œ

cluedo123 · 05-07-2021 9:36pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

I’m not sure when the BA is awarded, I’ve been told by others that it’s after your probation ends but ultimately yes it’s 20 weeks college and 12 weeks in a station. The training program of phase 1,2,3 etc has been turned on it arse due to covid and to get bodies out on the front line.

I don’t know what the QQI is under the new structure

The BA program is with UL ands it’s three phases of 34 weeks each. It’s been modified during CoVid times, as it’s now a little longer. But it’s defo not shorter than 102 weeks to achieve the BA - Level 7.

cluedo123 · 05-07-2021 9:38pm

Marty1476 wrote: »

Quick question for serving or retired members, do they pay for your train tickets to Templemore?

I know it sounds stupid but just trying to find and account for as many expenses as I can. A return ticket from Tipp to dublin is about €40 so a big chunk of your €184

There’s no allowances for travel. It’s completely on you to make it work. However there could probably be someone in your intake who lives near you and may oblige with a lift, you could share fuel costs.

Marty1476 · 05-07-2021 9:46pm

cluedo123 wrote: »

The BA program is with UL ands it’s three phases of 34 weeks each. It’s been modified during CoVid times, as it’s now a little longer. But it’s defo not shorter than 102 weeks to achieve the BA - Level 7.

Is it fair to say that under the new structure of training the BA will be awarded after the proposed training and probation period of two years? On the job learning?

I’m genuinely asking a question that I don’t know the answer to

I’m in contact with people from 191,192 etc who were pushed through training during covid, Nobody seems to have actual answers on the BA despite intake 193 being attested after 3 weeks (I may have my intake numbers wrong please forgive me )

cruzex · 06-07-2021 11:24pm

Does anyone know will we be on the €184 a week for the 2 years while we’re on training? And anyone have any idea what Phase 2 and Phase 3 are?

It says we’ll be paid €184 a week during phase 1 of the training so was just wondering does that change after phase 1 then

Sierra Oscar · 16-07-2021 10:41am

https://boards.ie/discussion/comment/117610348#Comment_117610348

It's €184 while you are a trainee. Once you are attested you are on full pay. You are attested upon entry into Phase 2.

talla10 · 27-08-2021 4:42pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117574737#Comment_117574737

Post 2004 entrants have to work until 55 even if they have 30 years service. As of 1st April 2004 all new entrants must have 30 years service AND attained the age of 55....

Stretch1432 · 10-07-2022 9:26pm

I agree coming from someone who was a guard . I didn't do long in the job . In my opinion you pick family life or work life ... I choose family..

Stretch1432 · 11-07-2022 6:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/116733416#Comment_116733416

More like hardship than heartbeat . If it was like heartbeat it would be ok.

I served for two years including my time in Garda college. I have days where I miss the job . When I found out I was accepted to be a guard it was one of the happiest days of my life . My family was so proud. I even got an award on our passing out ceremony but when I got to the station after a few months I couldn't keep going it was just mental.

There was very few on our unit for an extremely busy station. Only about 10/12. Every night shift there would be a queue of people outside the public office.

The amount of paperwork was crazy . I had at least 50 investigation s. Frauds I hated the most .I had to go to court on my days off. I had no cpd course done and couldn't drive the car so on days off I had to come in to get statements and CCTV etc to progress my investigation s. And I could drive no problem in my previous job I was a qualified artic driver. Having to do cpd on a busy week was also a pain. Trying to get everything done was impossible. I found the night shifts very difficult. I have a young family and I felt like my relationship was in trouble if I stayed. I was constantly in a bad mood also

The guys on my units were some of the most loveliest people I ever met. My sgt a gent . To me it all seems like it is the area you get stationed because I know of guys who got more affluent areas and they wouldn't be half as busy I was. It was an extremely difficult decision to leave Ags and I had to get therapy after it because I was so disappointed it didn't work out for me .

Spook22 · 11-07-2022 7:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119323001#Comment_119323001

The advice I was given is make as certainly as humanly possible this is the job for you.

If it is one of several options you are weighing up, my sense would be perhaps its not the role for you long term.

In your position I would think long and hard about the other options and if you can happy with those, because the reality is, at a minimum they are almost certainly less hassle for more pay.

Benefits of being a Garda

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