Kelly: ‘We remain in a mess on police pay’

The Police Federation for Northern Ireland remains critical of the abject failure of Executive Ministers to sign off on and deliver a pay award for police officers.

PFNI Chair Liam Kelly says: “The Justice Minister said during a radio interview that she “hoped” there would be agreement on pay by the end of December. However, they’d have to wait for this month’s Monitoring Round to see if the money would actually be made available.

“Once again, police officers perceive and feel they are at the back of the queue when it comes to pay. They feel they are being treated disgracefully.

“It is now expected that officers will fail to see their pay entitlement in their Christmas payslips. But what happens if the money isn’t there? Will the Minister and her colleagues break with pay parity with our police colleagues across the water? Or will they delay payment to sometime in the future when it is financially viable? Either way it will be disconcerting and damaging to our officers already reducing morale.

“We remain in a mess.  There are no guarantees, no solid delivery timeframes, and no tangible commitment, just a Minister saying she ‘hopes’.

 “The December Monitoring Round is next week and this Federation will be watching closely to see if the Finance Minister comes across with what’s needed. Without an allocation on pay, our officers will be effectively told to accept a less than fair pay settlement.

“We fear if the police pay award is not actioned expeditiously it will do untold damage to morale and have a detrimental impact on workforce retention and recruitment.

“We and our members will watch what’s announced next week with great interest.”