Conduct Regulations Act

Over the past number of months, we at the GRA have been actively engaging with officials at the Department of Justice with regard to the new Policing Security and Community Safety Act 2024, the initial part of which is due to be enacted next month.

This newsletter is substantial and delves into details relating to the proposed new regulations that are set to replace the current discipline regulations. I can’t over emphasise the importance of these new regulations which could impact every member. I urge you to read this newsletter in its entirety.

As a result of the new Act, the Discipline Regulations 2007 are being replaced by Conduct, Standards of Professional Behaviour, and Performance and Attendance Regulations.

Once the Department of Justice forwarded all three drafts to the GRA, we established a working group that includes the association’s solicitor Liz Hughes. We prepared comprehensive submissions on all three drafts, which were then submitted to the Department. 

The purpose of these submissions was to ensure that any new regime governing the terms and conditions of employment for you, the Members of this Association, would operate fairly, ensuring your rights both as Employees but also of Members of a disciplined force, that they are clear and that you understand the framework within which you perform your duties.

On the 16th September, the GRA had an initial consultation with senior Department Officials regarding the draft conduct regulations, where we outlined numerous serious issues present in these drafts.

On the 14th October, we held a further meeting with the Department Officials concerning the performance and attendance regulations. At this meeting, the Department Officials mentioned that they had made a number of changes to the draft conduct regulations as a result of our submissions and were still considering other matters raised by the GRA.  We were reassured that our engagement was making a meaningful impact, but issues still remained and were emphasised to the officials.

During this meeting, the Department informed the GRA that the conduct regulations were only for misconduct, as defined by the Regulations or gross misconduct and that there would be no mechanism within the draft conduct regulations for dealing with minor misconduct and performance matters and would require policy to be drafted between Garda Management and the Garda Staff Associations. We emphasised to the Department that no new regulations could be enacted until a process was agreed upon and in operation to deal with minor conduct and performance matters.

We left the meeting with the understanding from the Department officials that we would receive a second draft of each of the proposed new Regulations, incorporating the changes which had been made on foot of work done by the Department, including taking into account the GRA’s submissions.

The GRA immediately contacted the Commissioner regarding this vital aspect, seeking immediate consultation on any new proposed policy regarding informal discipline. However, no reply was received.

On the 31st October 2024 the GRA became aware that the Department planned to enact the Conduct and Standards of Professional Behaviour Regulations on the 16th December, even though the Performance and Attendance Regulations were not ready and no informal process would be in place.

The GRA is extremely concerned that in the vacuum created by an incomplete framework, any matter of minor misconduct and all performance matters would be inappropriately categorised as misconduct, and members would find themselves subject to a process under the conduct regulations.

The General Secretaries of all four Garda Staff Associations requested an urgent meeting with the Minister, but this was declined.

On the 15th November 2024 the General Secretaries met with the Deputy General, Department of Justice and other senior officials. We expressed our serious concerns about the rushed nature of the enactment date, that the Regulations were not ready, that there was no process for dealing with minor matters, and no consultation had begun.  We informed the Department Officials that, in reality, the Commissioner had not responded to correspondence on the matter. Additionally, we highlighted that we had not received an updated draft of the regulations, as had been promised following the 14th October Meeting.

The Department Officials assured us that these would be forwarded on the 18th November, and that a number of matters raised by the GRA were still under consideration.

The Department Officials stated that the 16th December was the date to issue a Commencement Order for the 2024 Act to take effect, the consequences of which would result in the Regulations coming into force. 

The Department failed to explain how this was the case for the Conduct and Standards Regulations but not to the Performance Regulations. The GRA expressed concern that Members accused of minor breaches of misconduct and performance would find themselves being disciplined for more serious breaches as there will be no process to deal with minor matters.

The Department agreed to schedule a meeting with Garda Management after the GRA informed them that the Commissioner was not responding to our requests. The Department arranged this meeting on 19th November where the Garda Staff Associations and representatives from the Senior Garda Management, met with the Department.

The Department stated that they were steadfast on the 16th December as the enactment date, despite the fact that the Performance Regulations will not be ready. Garda Management confirmed that there would be no procedure in place to deal with minor breaches of conduct and that consultation can’t take place until all Regulations were enacted.

Currently, the GRA is still waiting for decisions to be made on a number of serious issues, for an updated draft to be issued in order for us to prepare further submissions and engage in further consultation with the Department. The Department has stated that there will still be a chance to effect change, even at this late stage.

Our outstanding issues of serious concern are:-

1. The complete lack of a process to address minor misconduct and minor performance matters – The GRA believes that Members with minor breaches will find themselves being disciplined under these regulations for more serious breaches with the risk of far more serious consequences.

2. Review/Appeal Panel – The Department has not yet agreed that a representative from the GRA will sit on the Appeal Panel, which will review the most serious misconduct matters that could result in the dismissal of a Member of the Force.

3. Civilianisation – The current drafts provide roles and functions for Garda Staff in the operation of the Regulations. It is the firm position of the GRA that civilian staff cannot have any involvement in the investigation or determination of proceedings involving a member. There is no supervisory structure in existence between sworn members and garda staff because there is no equivalence between the rank structure within AGS and the grade structure within the civil service. This IR matter must be resolved between stakeholders in the interest of all employees before any purported hierarchy can be imposed through the implementation of regulations that purport to allow for a supervisory interaction between the two structures.

4. Lack of clear and concise processes - this is in regard to procedures to be utilised in dealing with different processes within the conduct regulations.

In summary, the GRA does not accept the fact that these regulations must be brought in on the 16th December 2024. The very fact that the Performance Regulations won’t be brought in, and are not, in fact, finalised, evidences the fact that this timeframe is not required by the legislation. The Department could not offer any reason why the 16th December is the deadline. We believe that this decision is a political one, but if implemented, it will create a situation where there is no clear process to deal with minor breaches of conduct, and no process at all to deal with performance matters.

The Minister, who has repeatedly declined to meet the GRA, stated in September that

Garda members and their managers and supervisors need a system that is fair to all concerned, adheres to the principles of natural justice, and deals with cases expeditiously. I firmly believe that the new system will deliver on all those fronts.

If the Minister enacts the Conduct and Standards of Professional Behaviour Regulations in the absence of the Performance and Attendance Regulations, and a process to deal with minor and informal conduct and performance matters, she will be failing to live up to her commitment.

The GRA is committed to achieving fairness and clarity for its Members, and we will not stand over a situation that could lead to injustice to any of our Members being subjected to a regime that could result in sanctions simply because the Minister for Justice and her Department and Garda Management have failed to introduce a complete and workable framework for the conditions of employment of our Members.

We will continue to keep you updated with any developments over the coming weeks.

Thank You,

Ronan Slevin, General Secretary