MEMBERS of the 2,500 strong Garda Federation have criticised the new Garda anti drugs initiative, Operation Dochas, which they claim was imposed without consultation and may cost individual gardai £60 a month in lost allowances.
Dochas, which was announced to the media by the Assistant Commissioner, Mr Tom King, last month as part of the overall Government response to the drugs issue, promises the deployment of 500 extra gardai aimed at eliminating the need for locally based community patrols.
However, in the current issue of Patrol the magazine of the Garda Federation, it is claimed that changes in Garda rostering may mean the loss of £60 a month in night duty allowances for gardai assigned to the project.
The Garda Federation also claims that "a very worrying factor is the insistence on single patrolling, with the gardai being directed without back up into high risk sectors".
Criticising Operation Dochas, the magazine, which features two separate articles on the subject, claims it "has also the appearance of a publicity exercise".
"Garda management have contrived the scheme in the hope that, by saturating areas seriously affected by drugs, they can restore public confidence in the force."
Highlighting what is seen as "flaws and contradictions in the operation, the federation claims that some 200 gardai have been recalled from Border patrols, with the remainder including gardai from plainclothes crime units who "now find themselves back in uniform and on the beat".
On the safety aspect of serving in Operation Dochas, the federation argues that single patrols put individual gardai in danger. "A garda could encounter a volatile situation and may not be in a position to radio for help."
The gardai also say it is "contrary to regulations to carry out searches alone". One of the biggest grievances the gardai seem to have is the claim that they were given no warning of the proposed policy.
They claim they were neither consulted nor not asked for their views, and no consideration had been given to the policy's implementation on a voluntary or agreed basis.