Rank and file Gardaí are withdrawing overtime today as their protest against a pre-Covid roster escalates.
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) remains locked in a dispute with Commissioner Drew Harris over the scheduled return of the old roster on November 6th.
GRA members intend to withdraw their voluntary overtime every Tuesday in October, with threats of a 'blue flu' in November if the commissioner doesn't defer his plans.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee says she's been assured there will be sufficient cover today, however, GRA President, Brendan O'Connor isn't so sure.
"The term sufficient is a subjective term.
"There's no doubt that if there's less Gardaí on duty, we will see issues such as response times and visibility will be affected.
"Now I'm sure emergency calls will still be prioritized, but perhaps lower priority things won't get the attention or the response that they might on a normal day when our members are supplementing the shortfalls in numbers in An Garda Síochána".
Mr O'Connor says time should be given to negotiations on a new roster.
"Remove the 6th of November as the date for imposing a roster that doesn't work, that's dysfunctional, that has been proven to be not really conducive to the provision of police.
"Just to defer that, to allow us breathing space to find a new roster, so our members can only change once rather than have to change twice in the foreseeable future.
"It's not an unreasonable ask".
