Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) have voted “overwhelmingly” in favour of the new public sector pay deal.
Under the deal, which was agreed between the Government and officials at the end of August, there will be a pay increases of 6.5 per cent across this year and next.
According to the terms of the agreement, public-sector workers — including civil servants, teachers and nurses — will receive a 3 per cent pay rise backdated to the start of February.
These workers will then receive a further increase of 2 per cent at the start of March 2023 and a 1.5 per cent or €750 rise, whichever is larger, at the start of next October.
The AGSI formally ratified the proposals on Monday, with 93 per cent of members voting to accept the deal. General secretary of the association Antoinette Cunningham welcomed the acceptance of the pay proposals.
“This decisive result brings stability and certainty around earnings in an economically challenging time for our members,” she said.
The AGSI is the latest union to agree to the proposals, with unions associated with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) last week voting in favour of the deal.
Separately, the AGSI also voted in relation to Garda roster proposals, with 63 per cent of the AGSI membership rejecting the plan.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, gardaí have been on a special roster which maximises the numbers on duty and means members working four 12-hour days followed by four days off.
Negotiations between Garda management and employee representatives have been ongoing at Westmanstown in Dublin since early 2022 on what system should replace this roster.
The proposed roster system would mean gardaí rostered for a mixture of eight-, 10- and 12-hour shifts. Frontline gardaí who have to work a mixture of night and day shifts will be mostly on 12-hour rosters. Non-core gardaí, such as detectives, community policing officers and others who are not rostered on a 24/7 basis, will mostly be on eight-hour shifts.
“These were difficult roster proposals. The overwhelming message from the membership during the nationwide series of in-person briefings in advance of the ballot were concerns about work-life balance and family-friendly rosters,” Ms Cunningham said.
“The proposals asked members to work 14 days out of 16 which the majority of members were very concerned about. They felt it would lead to burnout at a faster rate and disconnect them from their families.”
The AGSI said it is now seeking an urgent meeting the Garda Commissioner to discuss his plans in relation to rosters for An Garda Síochána.
The national executive of the AGSI will meet on Wednesday and Thursday this week to discuss the impact and results of both of these ballot results.
