The Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar has claimed that it would be unfair to prioritise a Garda pay increase.
Mr Varadkar made his comments after the GRA agreed earlier this week to impose a four day strike action in November. Although Mr Varadkar admitted that the gardaí do “a very special job, a very important job, and put their lives at risk in the job they do”, he claimed that there are many groups who could argue that they “are a special case”.
However he also said: “I think it would be unfair if any group of workers – whether it’s bus drivers, or gardaí, or doctors – were to get pay restoration quicker or to get more pay restoration because they are able to close a city down or put communities at threat of crime.”
The Social Protection minister also said Garda representative bodies, and any other sectors in a pay dispute, to should actively engage with the government to find a solution before threatening industrial action.