No contingency plan could ever adequately replace 12,800 gardaí on strike, Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald has told the Dáil.

“We are talking about essential services, keeping our airports and ports open, commerce continuing and responses being made to serious and urgent 999 calls and emergency situations,’’ said Ms Fitzgerald.

She was replying to Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman, Jim O’Callaghan, who asked if the Garda commissioner had apprised her of how many gardaí will turn up for work if the strike goes ahead.

Ms Fitzgerald, who is also Minister for Justice, appealed to the Garda representative groups not to go ahead with the strike.

"I would still, at this point, appeal to both organisations to pull back from the brink,'' she said. "I would ask them to stand back and suspend tomorrow's action to allow the time and the space for the Labour Court to continue to do its work.''

The Tánaiste said the court was the highest arbitration in the land: "All of the various mechanisms of industrial relations have been made available to An Garda Síochána. "

Ms Fitzgerald said the Garda Representative Association (GRA) had agreed a ballot would take place and that should be given time.

No protection

Mr O’Callaghan said the country was entering uncharted territory. People should not be put in a position where they might find themselves without Garda the protection.

He accused the Government of managing the dispute incompetently: “You allowed a Mexican standoff to develop between the Garda associations and the Government.”

He also said the Government has allowed an industrial dispute to become a national crisis.

Independent TD Noel Grealish said morale within the Garda was at an all-time low because of massive cuts and reduction in numbers over the past decade. Some Dublin gardaí were living in cramped and unsuitable conditions because they could not afford decent accommodation, he said.

“Some are even sleeping in their cars because they cannot afford a place to live,’’ Mr Grealish claimed. “The price of accommodation has gone through the roof.’’

The Tánaiste, he said, was not to blame, given that problems had been growing for 10 years.

Station closures

“The massive reduction in numbers has put more pressure on gardaí, and their workload has further increased with the closure of many stations around the country,’’ Mr Grealish added.

He said some Dublin-based gardaí were also having difficulty securing transfers down the country after serving several years in the capital.

Ms Fitzgerald said there was no question that recruitment and investment were stopped, but since the time of the previous government there had been a focus on investing in the force.

“We have been able to do that because we have a recovering economy and an unemployment rate down to 7.7 per cent, thanks to prudent management,’’ she said.