AGSI rejects new Garda travel and subsistence scheme

Members of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors have overwhelmingly rejected a proposed new travel and subsistence scheme, with 88.7% of valid votes cast against it.

The vote followed more than six years of negotiations and engagement between AGSI and Garda management, including discussions through the Workplace Relations Commission. AGSI said it initially accepted the scheme when it was published because it understood that the text reflected agreements reached during that process.

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However, serious concerns subsequently arose regarding management's interpretation and proposed implementation of the scheme.

The association said serious concerns later emerged over how management interpreted and planned to implement the scheme. In AGSI’s view, parts of the approach moved away from what had been agreed at the commission.

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This result is not a rejection of the need for a fair and modern travel and subsistence scheme.

AGSI’s National Executive decided that members directly affected by the scheme should determine whether to accept it as published and interpreted by management. General Secretary Ronan Clogher said the result did not reject the need for a fair and modern travel and subsistence system. Instead, he said, it reflected members’ concerns about the way the scheme was being interpreted and implemented.

AGSI will convene a Special Delegate Conference on October 5. The conference will consider the implications of the vote and determine the association’s response and next steps. The Garda Press Office was contacted for comment.

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It reflects the serious concerns of our members about how this scheme is being interpreted and implemented.