A confidential internal Garda report from four years ago found that the squad, which the Garda Commissioner plans to reopen in November, “does not provide sufficient resources” to the national police force and “is not fit for purpose”, reports RTE.
The report of the duty reform project completed in 2019, seen by RTÉ News, also found that the so-called “Westmantown Roster” resulted in an immediate 20% reduction in resources per Garda station and led to “ineffective supervision and management”.
The ‘Westmantown Roster’ is at the heart of the current problems between rank-and-file Garda officers and the Garda Commissioner.
This pre-pandemic schedule would require gardaí to work six consecutive days instead of the current four, and that is something they do not want to do.
They say they will lose money and have a worse work-life balance and want to remain on the current temporary ‘Covid Roster’.
RTÉ News has learned that four years ago Garda management and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris were aware of difficulties with the ‘Westmantown Roster’, which the commissioner plans to reinstate on November 6.
The composition reform project report, which was finalized on June 27, 2019, concluded that “the current number of units (5) does not provide sufficient resources” and results “in an immediate 20% reduction in the number of members per unit”, reports RTE.
There were 14,336 sworn gardaí at the time, but the report said “additional resourcing had not been recruited to bridge this gap”, reports RTE.
Since then, An Garda Síochána’s numbers have declined further and now number 13,900 officers, a reduction of almost 500.
The report cited “ineffective supervision and management of overlapping shifts which occur at inopportune times”, particularly from Monday to Wednesday.
The Garda Association said the report “simply states exactly what the GRA have been saying for months. An Garda Síochána simply cannot provide the resources necessary to man this fifth unit without seriously negatively affecting services to the public,” reports RTE.
Garda headquarters said it did not comment on internal reports, although a proposed new squad to replace the Westmantown squad was rejected by the GRA and AGSI after 64 days of meetings and discussions over three years, most of which took place under an independent chairman.
Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney warned that the debate over the new make-up is “impacting our garda morale and garda authority” and said that it “is an issue that we need to resolve quickly”, reports RTE.
He explained that he should have said earlier: “that the minister met garda representative bodies today, and the commissioner’s meeting them tomorrow”, reports RTE.
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