A senior member of the Garda Representative Association has described the Government's proposal to detain deportees in Garda station cells as "not practical" and has suggested that there would need to be some form of detention centre.
The remarks follow the announcement by the Minister for Justice here on Tuesday night that he was setting up a new Garda national immigration bureau and that deportees could be detained if there was a suspicion that they would abscond before being put on an aircraft.
Mr O'Donoghue said there were no immediate proposals for a detention centre for the failed asylum-seekers. However, a Government source said it was likely that the periods of detention would be very short and would "probably" be in station cells.
Yesterday the general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr P.J. Stone, said the Government appeared to be "short on specifics" about the proposals to set up the new Garda bureau and also about the detention of deportees.
"A Garda station would simply not be able to cope with that kind of workload. I think the Minister has been less than specific - for his own good reasons - about how we are to deal with deportations. We are going to have to face up to having some sort of holding place.
"The Minister has a tremendously difficult problem in dealing with this issue but he is short on specifics about how to work out the logistics. There needs to be more information about . . . where you hold them."
Mr Stone said it was not practical to hold deportees in Garda stations which had small numbers of holding cells which were normally only used for detaining suspects overnight. Garda stations would also be unsuitable for accommodating families.
"With this scale of a problem I don't know if Garda stations can cope. They are going to have to take them to particular centres, which have more facilities," he said.
Mr Stone added that he supported the Minister's proposal to involve gardai in the deportation process and the setting up of the new Garda immigration bureau.
"We will accept our responsibilities. The [Garda] Commissioner has no difficulty in enforcement of the law, but the Minister has to be more forthright in terms of what resources he is to provide. I don't know if we have the resources needed."
Mr Stone was speaking during a break in the annual conference of the GRA. During debates, the association has criticised Garda management plans to transfer more than 600 Garda jobs up to the rank of superintendent to civilians. Most of the jobs selected for transfer to civilian function are at garda rank.
The outgoing president of the GRA, Mr John Healy, said in some British constabularies, where many policing jobs had been taken over by civilians, the public rarely got to speak to a police officer when they called to a station with a complaint.
"We cannot as an association agree to a process that would see members who have given long years of good service cast from the force, as happens in the United Kingdom, simply because the areas where their experiences and knowledge could continue to be utilised are all occupied by civilians.
"This association cannot agree to the removal of members against their will from posts that they currently occupy that are targeted for civilianisation, and we have no right as an association to negotiate the involuntary movement of our members."
Mr Healy also spoke of the problem of bullying in the force, particularly by management. He said the "highly disciplined" nature of Garda work provided "more opportunities for senior ranks to bully junior ranks". This had a "hugely corrosive" effect on members, on their health and families and caused early retirements, ill-health and stress.
The new president was named yesterday as Garda Gregory Fogarty from Carlow/Kildare division. The new deputy president is Mr Dermot O'Donnell from Garda headquarters.