The Garda Commissioner has since 2020 issued instructions to the Guards as to exactly what their duties are in the event of an eviction.
Drew Harris said that these were to keep the peace and prevent crime and detect crime when it is committed, reports RTE.
Instructions were reprinted four weeks ago.
Commissioner Harris said that the removal should be a “preplanned operations” and that the Guard would ensure that everything was done to minimize the risk to public order and the risk or danger to the public.
He said that an Garda Síochána does not want to see situations where there was public order or a crime was being committed.
The commissioner’s comments come after the Garda Sergeants and Inspectors’ Association called for an increase in layoffs to clarify the Garda’s role in the evictions.
AGSI said eviction is a social issue, which also affects the Gardaí, and a large proportion of its members are in rented accommodation because they cannot afford their own homes.
Secretary-General Antoinette Cunningham said they were “at both sides of this” because, in addition to being tenants, the guards have a task to ensure that the peace is not breached.
“It’s a difficult issue, a very sensitive issue and we try and deal with this as sensitively as we can,” Ms Cunningham said, reports RTE.
On a tweet of a re-edited Famine eviction photo by Sinn Féin TD Eoin O’Brien, Commissioner Harris said the MP “meant no offence and it is sensible of us not to take offence but it does highlight what a contentious issue this is in society,” reports RTE.
Meanwhile, Drew Harris rolled back a directive to monitor gender identity in the workplace.
AGSI criticized the Directive on the Rights of People in Transition because it was introduced without consultation or training.
Commissioner Harris had said that a garda using the wrong gender when addressing a person could be disciplined. He withdrew the instruction this morning.
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