Garda Allowances

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 04:33PM

Kelda09 wrote: »

I am also aware that other frontline workers are present at murders crashes etc, but before anybody says anything, I also am fully in support of all frontline workers being paid properly, not just gaurds.

An excellent point, one I completely agree with - very nice post Kelda09!

I'll be close to top of the queue to moan about any unjust allowances or at the uncovering of Gardai milking the bejaysus out of the system (like the expenses thing earlier) because that's just not right but on the whole I think that unless there are GLARING errors with pay to frontline workers they shouldn't be at the frontline of paycuts.

At the same time, I not sure I agree with frontline strikes in an effort to secure more pay when everybody else is talking about paycuts.

pipesofpeace · 10-11-2009 04:33PM

when I get on a train and see a friend of mine flash the badge and go for free I think "F*cker!". I think the same when he gets free through the tollbridge on the M4. I think the same when he gets into Coppers for free. I think the same when he gets on a bus and just takes a seat.

they get all that free as well this just gets worse

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 04:36PM

pipesofpeace wrote: »

they get all that free as well this just gets worse

That is the choice of the respective companies. There's a toll bridge operating down in Cork/near Cork and apparently the badge gets you nothing, you gotta pay full whack.

If you were sitting in a pub getting some food and a student came in, ordered something and got a 10% student discount would you also begrudge the student? After all they're probably getting a grant...:rolleyes:

pipesofpeace · 10-11-2009 04:40PM

10% Vs. Free

big difference

Flashing badges for freebies as public servants sounds like cronyism, secret boys club, people thinking their above paying. All those things we all would have hoped had gone from Irish soceity and is more akin to some banana republic

keizer · 10-11-2009 04:40PM

bringingitall wrote: »

BASIC
+ scheduling a ten minute court appearance on your day off knowing that you'll get paid for the minimum 5hours you get under union agreements that state you must be paid this minimum time regardless of your actual time worked(been told first hand about this)

Dont believe everything you hear. You're about two hours out there!

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 04:45PM

pipesofpeace wrote: »

Flashing badges for freebies as public servants sounds like cronyism, secret boys club, people thinking their above paying. All those things we all would have hoped had gone from Irish soceity and is more akin to some banana republic

OAPs get on the bus for free. Their reason? They've worked their life, paid their dues and are now entitled to it. That is their "Thank You".

Gardai get on for free. The reason? They respond to fights on public transport, they patrol the Luas even though the Luas operators don't pay for it, they remove unruly passengers and keep things going smoothly if there's trouble on a service. That is their "Thank You".

If they stopped offering free travel to Gardai the Gardai would pay for the bus like anybody else. They would respond to the calls for unruly passengers just the same as they do now - it's their job. If you could get something for free you would too, simple as that.

pipesofpeace · 10-11-2009 04:48PM

don't forget the petrol bomb attacks and mortar rocket attacks on toll booths on M4 that their regularly called out to

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 04:50PM

pipesofpeace wrote: »

don't forget the petrol bomb attacks and mortar rocket attacks on toll booths on M4 that their regularly called out to

:rolleyes:

It's a company policy. You'd have to ask the toll operator why it is the way it is. I know if my student card got me a freebie on the road I'd take it all the time. Gardai still use the M50 don't they? Gotta pay nowadays too

humanji · 10-11-2009 04:53PM

It must be depressing starting a thread with 150 odd posts and having almost everyone disagree with you.

kowloon · 10-11-2009 04:58PM

I'd sooner work at Initech than be a guard or a paramedic, regardless of the pay or benefits.

humanji · 10-11-2009 05:05PM

kowloon wrote: »

I'd sooner work at Initech than be a guard or a paramedic, regardless of the pay or benefits.

Even if it were working down in the basement?

Kelda09 · 10-11-2009 05:20PM

TouchingVirus wrote: »

An excellent point, one I completely agree with - very nice post Kelda09!

Aw shucks, I got praise!!! whoo hoo

"You'd have to ask the toll operator why it is the way it is"
Sorry dont know how to multi quote

... if people let them in free for flashing the badge, then they will do it, so would I if I could. but face it, no gaurds going to arrest ya for not letting them into an amusement arcade etc for free, if it bothers ya so much, dont let them do it, tell them to pay to get in or whatever it is, dont just moan about it here.

Hootanany · 10-11-2009 05:45PM

TouchingVirus wrote: »

And when the big cheque rolls around they'll get taxed on the higher rate and half of it or more will go down the tubes. So on a big cheque week they might come out with 600... So that's 350x3 + 600 ..a whopping 412.50 euro per week. I earned more than that when I worked in Tesco 4 years ago - a job with no risk or late nights or anything else inconvenient.

Once again your bitterness comes out - you stood in the queue at Coppers a few nights and not managed to get in only to have a group of Gardai flash their badges and walk right in for free? And how might changing the Coppers entrance policy get us out of the money woes we've got?

There's the Garda Representatives Association, the GRA. Probably a few others. And Gardai cannot take strike action, nor can the Army.

itsallaboutme could probably not take pay for the 26.5 hours overtime, but they should be able to get TOIL (Time Off In Lieu), that is 26.5 hours of leave in the next month. Sort of like Civil Service Flexi-time, though flexi is limited to 11.5 hours *shakes fist*

Is it not owned by a Ex Garda

Any key? · 10-11-2009 05:51PM

Jaysus OP would you not think of becoming a gaurd yourself If Its such a handy job?

LookBehindYou · 10-11-2009 06:23PM

The pay and allowances to Gardai are chicken feed compared to the pay and allowances and perks paid to Politicians and Bankers and certain people in RTE,FAS, etc etc.Also the complete waste of Public money spent on white elephants.

If people were to focus their anger on those freeloaders, there would be a lot more money saved.

It is in the Governments interest to have us all divided, (Divide and Conquer)
It takes the limelight off what they are doing (or rather NOT doing)

I am not a member of the gardai.

nomorebadtown · 10-11-2009 06:25PM

i think we can all agree that gardai on the beat in rough areas or the ones dealing with organised crime or the like definitly need to be paid a reasonable amount. but when you sign up to be a police officer what do you expect to be dealing with? cats up trees? missing bicycles? dogs fouling the pavement? police everywhere have to deal with dangerous people and horrible situations but i doubt if they receive the kind of benifits and extras afforded to the gardai. lets be honest, is not about the gardai, its the culture in the whole public sector, it seems, to those outside it of course, to be rotten to the core. Reform and rationalisation now please.

Hootanany · 10-11-2009 06:26PM

Any key? wrote: »

Jaysus OP would you not think of becoming a gaurd yourself If Its such a handy job?

Who me

Any key? · 10-11-2009 06:56PM

Hootanany wrote: »

Who me

No the original poster;)

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 09:16PM

Dudess wrote: »

Seems fair enough to me - law enforcement can't come cheap, and they'll never make an absolute fortune out of it, or reach salaries the likes of some in the private sector.

FYP

Sorry, but this attitude really annoys me: creche-workers are responsible for someone else's children ffs - just think of what that entails for a moment. And it's not "babysitting" like when you arrive at the house and the baby's already put to bed and you get to watch DVDs and eat popcorn. And what creche-workers get paid is laughable. My friend's earning in the low 20s and she's working at a place where the pay is considered not bad for the sector (it's in a leisure centre - a "stand-alone" creche would pay worse again). She had to go to college and get her diploma, she had to clock up loads of unpaid or barely paid work experience... As someone once said to me: you'd get paid more than that to look after someone else's car.

the majority of guards wouldnt come near making more in the private sector than they do as cops , they wouldnt have the brains or talent , for most of them this past decade , it was a choice between stopping cars with no tax displayed or working on the buildings , working on the buildings wouldnt have paid as much , would have been more dangerous , involved longer hours and provided no pension benefit or job security

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 09:21PM

TouchingVirus wrote: »

An excellent point, one I completely agree with - very nice post Kelda09!

I'll be close to top of the queue to moan about any unjust allowances or at the uncovering of Gardai milking the bejaysus out of the system (like the expenses thing earlier) because that's just not right but on the whole I think that unless there are GLARING errors with pay to frontline workers they shouldn't be at the frontline of paycuts.

At the same time, I not sure I agree with frontline strikes in an effort to secure more pay when everybody else is talking about paycuts.

the problem is the country can no longer afford the highest paid cops in the eu

check out theese CSO figures , the average guard in irleand takes home 1200 euro per week
http://www.cso.ie/quicktables/GetQuickTables.aspx?FileName=PSA01.asp&TableName=Public+Sector+Average+Weekly+Earnings&StatisticalProduct=DB_PS

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 09:24PM

nomorebadtown wrote: »

i think we can all agree that gardai on the beat in rough areas or the ones dealing with organised crime or the like definitly need to be paid a reasonable amount. but when you sign up to be a police officer what do you expect to be dealing with? cats up trees? missing bicycles? dogs fouling the pavement? police everywhere have to deal with dangerous people and horrible situations but i doubt if they receive the kind of benifits and extras afforded to the gardai. lets be honest, is not about the gardai, its the culture in the whole public sector, it seems, to those outside it of course, to be rotten to the core. Reform and rationalisation now please.

+1 , the challenges facing guards in this country are no different to those facing police in london , paris or berlin , the only difference is the police in ireland earn at least 30% more than in those other countries

10-11-2009 09:25PM

3fullback wrote: »

Gardai do a great job and are very hard working.
They have to deal with murders, suicide , rape and just about every other thing thats detroying our country . There is'nt too many of us that have them kind of things in our 9-5 jobs ! Any few pence they get for going to court or uniform is well earned.I Dont see to many jobs where you have to tell Parents that the 17 year old son has died in a traffic accident.

Now, leave the gards alone there not the people who got us into this mess and by taking away the few pence spent on allowance wont get us out of it either.

Its the Bankers, Developers , Politians, these are the people who should be attacked and ripped of everything there worth.

I hope you arent one of the tens of thousands who face reposession....

Join the dots a little please people

Do you think a Garda in a traffic unit would let you drive off in a car if the tax was out of date a few months because you couldnt afford it:pac:

The Gardai seize your car if the tax is out 2 months. A bit like a reposession :rolleyes:
If you hear any Gardai moaning about pay cuts ask them would they let you off if you didnt have car tax and see what they say

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 10:04PM

irish_bob wrote: »

the problem is the country can no longer afford the highest paid cops in the eu

check out theese CSO figures , the average guard in irleand takes home 1200 euro per week
http://www.cso.ie/quicktables/GetQuickTables.aspx?FileName=PSA01.asp&TableName=Public+Sector+Average+Weekly+Earnings&StatisticalProduct=DB_PS

It's the disproportion at the top of the scale that distorts those figures. Even the civil service figures (of which I would have experience) are out by €200 per week from people I know, ranging from HEO and up. And the grunts (the CO in the civil service, the regular garda in the force) do not earn close to these averages.

If somebody put forward a half-decent proposal like take the uniform allowance off Gardai who are stuck behind a desk (and therefore do not have problems with their uniform getting ripped/torn/bloodied etc), taking rent allowance off Gardai who earn gross above X limit (i.e. Gardai above 45k) then I could agree to that.

Reform is definitely what is needed, reform is not the same as a blanket removal of allowances to scrimp and save relative pennies compared to the money we are hemorrhaging elsewhere.

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 10:10PM

TouchingVirus wrote: »

It's the disproportion at the top of the scale that distorts those figures. Even the civil service figures (of which I would have experience) are out by €200 per week from people I know, ranging from HEO and up. And the grunts (the CO in the civil service, the regular garda in the force) do not earn close to these averages.

If somebody put forward a half-decent proposal like take the uniform allowance off Gardai who are stuck behind a desk (and therefore do not have problems with their uniform getting ripped/torn/bloodied etc), taking rent allowance off Gardai who earn gross above X limit (i.e. Gardai above 45k) then I could agree to that.

Reform is definitely what is needed, reform is not the same as a blanket removal of allowances to scrimp and save relative pennies compared to the money we are hemorrhaging elsewhere.

the police force in this country are by and large pretty decent and corruption is quite low by international standards , the problem is , they are simply too highly paid and the country can no longer afford it , thier current wages were only made payable when we had a freak of a property boom and all the revenue in the world to both make our guards, teachers and nurses the highest paid in the eu was freely available , it was not a normal economy back then , it was not conventional income tax receipts which funded theese high salarys and it is not income tax receipts which will fund them now so their has to be cuts

TouchingVirus · 10-11-2009 10:23PM

Most allowance systems in the public service need reform, the Gardai/HSE etc are no exception but they shouldn't be the first port of call really, especially not the actual frontline staff, the grunts, who aren't milking it like the CSO figures suggest

pvt.joker · 10-11-2009 10:33PM

irish_bob wrote: »

the problem is the country can no longer afford the highest paid cops in the eu

check out theese CSO figures , the average guard in irleand takes home 1200 euro per week
http://www.cso.ie/quicktables/GetQuickTables.aspx?FileName=PSA01.asp&TableName=Public+Sector+Average+Weekly+Earnings&StatisticalProduct=DB_PS

bullshít, get your facts right will you. Im an "average" guard, and take home 300 a week.

mikemac · 10-11-2009 10:35PM

I've read a lot here about gardai doing excessive paperwork.

Surely overstaffed civil service offices could redeploy staff to local stations. For security reasons maybe additional checks will have to done.
Staff are now working where they are needed, the clerical officers have a set job to do and possibly they can lobby to work in a local station.
It's cheaper to put a clerical officer on administration duties then a fully trained garda.

And gardaí are freed up to so they go on patrol for more hours and don't need to do paperwork at the end of their shift.

Sorted!

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 10:43PM

pvt.joker wrote: »

bullshít, get your facts right will you. Im an "average" guard, and take home 300 a week.

i dont believe you , i do believe the CSO figures

10-11-2009 10:49PM

pvt.joker wrote: »

bullshít, get your facts right will you. Im an "average" guard, and take home 300 a week.

lol you mean your a trainee
You`ll have increments

irish_bob · 10-11-2009 10:51PM

those on minum wage earn more than 300 per week , either he cant count or is baking pork pies

Garda Allowances

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