Thursday 27 January 2011

St Raphael's Garda Credit Union short of a few coppers

Pity the poor plod of St Raphael's Garda Credit Union, with in-debt coppers in such dire financial straits that there have been "instances of young gardai sleeping in rest rooms in garda stations and cycling large distances to work because they can't afford fuel or payments for cars", if the Sunday Independent is to be believed. 

It seems that the Credit Union is currently pursuing 20 cases in which a total of €3,000,000 is at stake, with one loan being for the sum of €750,000.  

Things are so bad, indeed, that St Raphael's has introduced a cap of €60,000 per loan, a figure that Garda loan applicants might see as symbolic of the new post-Celtic Tiger austerity. 

According to the piece by Jim Cusack, the plod are feeling the pinch (not his words) "as cutbacks in salary and a near complete ban on overtime are imposed.  Many had taken out loans based on maximised salary and allowances."

Interestingly, it seems that  "..officially, gardai are not allowed to be in a position where they cannot repay debt". 

Let's see what happens there, eh?


For the record, in 2009, 14,500 gardai recieved salaries of €620,904,182 and overtime of €112,476,430.

They also filled their serge pockets with:

Rent allowance €58,945,817 (approx €4,065 per annum per garda)

Gaeltacht allowance €1,196,817 (for those based there).

Uniform allowance €3,039,572 (to maintain their supplied uniforms)

Boot allowance €2,286,857 (to maintain their supplied boots)

(all figures from The Sunday Tribune, August 16th, 2009).

If they can't manage on all of that, what about the rest of us?

Back to Gombeen Nation main page

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a shame GM such hardworking bright"" ambitious young men, putting their life on the line everyday despite the maddest drivers in the world helping old ladies cross the road and checking road tax, lets start a fund and buy each garda a bed and breakfast house ,ooh wait most already have one and married to a school teacher or nurse, lets start a riot or two so the lads can get a litle overtime UP KERRY BH

Anonymous said...

Garda = The Storm troopers of the Gombeen elite. In Dublin it's almost like an army of occupation. I can't remember the last time I spoke to one who wasn't from Ballymucknowhere. Of course like all good gombeens 'tis a family affliction so it is. 'tis in the blood like you know.

Lew said...

What kind of total idiot loaned a Garda €750,000? I would assume it was one seeing it's their credit union - what the hell would he need it for?

in fact what the hell would one need a loan of €60,000 for? if they want a mortgage let them go and get a proper one

Anonymous said...

Gombeeniee, you forgot the rolls!the sanswiches , saor an aisce (for free) , on the taxpayer! I almost puke in anger when the gardai in front of me in the cue in mace get off scott once again would a bunch of rolls , coffes and crisps . I sat in bagel bar in ennis once and saw a whole table of gardai siochana get a free feed of well dressed bagels . Why do these dickheads get a free lunch !Our police force is compromised ! what is the reasoning behind this system other than the food is given free of chrage so that the plod will keep an eye on the place and respond quickly to any call out ,which is the job they are already paid to do !

Anonymous said...

It's all so very depressing! Imagine such an employeed individual facing the possibility of being sacked from his/her position...it's like taking a possible millionaire away from his hoard! What might such an individual do to remain locked in; I mean, how far would one go to keep such a brilliant paying job for life!?

Anonymous said...

God knows they have the legal system strangled. The Morris Tribunal did little for the country and a lot for Donegal.Most people who join the guards are self serving and only care about their wage packet at the end of their week. Many of them, especially in rural settings, dont deserve a full days pay for they dont provide a decent days work. Hopefully this will change because the last thing that Organisation needs is recruitment! Get rid of the fogies first and weed out the criminals

Anonymous said...

the last thing that organisation needs is recruitment. Let the elderly retire and weed out the criminals. That way, some people who are doing no work, and they know who they are, will be forced to work and those who are working can aim for positive change within the force. Bullying, Sexual Harassment and corruption are serious problems in the guards and they have NO intention of dealing with it properly. Too many favours are owed and thats why the last thing that is needed is recruitment. Let them sort themselves out before they corrupt young trainees. believe me, I know.

Come and See

spur said...

Every comment here is annonymous, and unfortunately posted by idiots with huge chips on their shoulders....nothing of consequence but bile ill informed diatribes from sad people with axes to grind.....one clown even talking about free sandwichs????? let it go you idiot...nothing to see here, move along.

The Gombeen Man said...

Right so, Garda.

Spur, whether something is considered a "chip on the shoulder" or an "opinion" is, in itself, a subjective call.

On the "sandwiches" observation of the commenter you refer to, I have heard similar myself.

Do you have any evidence to suggest that the commenter is wrong?

Anonymous said...

Hi! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I'm getting fed up of Wordpress because I've had problems
with hackers and I'm looking at options for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

my weblog ... beitragsbemessungsgrenze Krankenversicherung 2011
my website :: billige private krankenversicherung

Anonymous said...

Good way of describing, and fastidious post to take facts on the topic of
my presentation subject, which i am going to deliver in university.


my homepage ... get a bad credit loan
Also see my page: home equity loan rate

Anonymous said...

Piece of writing writing is also a excitement, if you be familiar with then you can
write or else it is complicated to write.

my web-site: pkv beiträge im alter
Also see my site: private krankenversicherung vergleichen aktuell