It's not all about free Christmas cards.....

THE perk of a free printing facility for Oireachtas members isn’t all about Christmas cards — TDs and senators are are also sending taxpayer-funded sympathy, good luck and congratulations cards.

New figures show that the free service, which is mostly used for newsletters and headed notepaper, has cost almost €1m over the past four years — printing 45 million items for 236 elected representatives.

While much of the media’s focus is on Christmas cards, a total of 31 TDs and senators have ordered 21,260 personalised sympathy cards since the start of the current Dail.

Michael Healy-Rae, an independent TD for Kerry South, was the biggest user of this facility, ordering 2,500 sympathy cards in 2014. On average, about 1,140 people die in Kerry each year.

Asked about the large order, Healy-Rae said he was using a service which was available and there was “absolutely nothing wrong with that”.

“It’s easier to place an order for a large amount rather than be coming back repeatedly for smaller print runs. I was being prudent and they won’t go to waste,” said Healy-Rae.

Personalised calendars have also proven highly popular in Leinster House, with almost 728,000 being ordered by 43 TDs and senators since 2011. Niall Collins, Fianna Fail’s justice spokesman, tops the list with orders for 127,000 calendars at a cost of €3,900. However, Alan Kelly, the environment minister, ordered 94,000 calendars at a cost of €4,640, the highest recorded.

Other less commonplace orders were placed by John Perry, a former junior minister, for 300 “good luck” cards, while Fine Gael TD Tony McLoughlin requested 500 “congratulations” cards.

A breakdown of the use of the service shows that 236 elected representatives have had more than 45m items printed during the current Dail term at a cost of €978,877.

The single biggest user is independent TD Terence Flanagan, who has had almost 1.2m items printed at a cost of €22,573. The average value of print orders by all deputies and senators is just under €4,150.

Flanagan, who represents the Dublin North-East constituency, which had an electorate of 58,542 in the 2011 general election, has ordered print runs of 75,000 on two occasions for newsletters. He explained the size of the order was due to the fact that boundary changes meant his new, enlarged constituency of Dublin Bay North had a population of 147,000.

“I try to issue at least four or five news bulletins to each house every year outlining my Dail work on national and local issues of concern and other general information,” said Flanagan. “When I first stood for election I promised my constituents that I would always be available and keep in touch with them.”

The second biggest user of the printing facility is Frances Fitzgerald, the justice minister, who ordered almost 800,000 items costing €16,229.

Other big users of the service include Labour TD Seán Kenny (€15,890), Labour junior minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (€15,172) and Fine Gael deputy Derek Keating (€14,877).

An Oireachtas spokesman said the use of the facility was governed by rules which stipulate it as for use “solely in connection with their parliamentary duties”.

It allows material for communicating with constituents on local or general public interest issues, government policies and legislation, including newsletters, flyers, business and Christmas cards.

TDs and senators cannot use the service for corporate material such as fundraising, overt electioneering material, content which promotes a private enterprise, or material which is designed to influence how to vote in a referendum.

The Thin Blue Line

One in five of all gardaí have been injured in the line of duty over the last five years.

Figures provided by the Department of Justice show 2,218 members of the force have suffered injuries in the course of their work between January 2011 and October 2015.

More than 580 officers were injured last year alone – the highest annual total for 

several years. Up to October 2 this year, 383 gardaí have reported work injuries.

The annual cost of compensation for gardai who are maliciously injured in the course of duty averages around €15m.

Fine Gael TD, Bernard Durkan, who received the information in response to a parliamentary question, has described the frequency of how often gardaí are attacked at work as “quite shocking.”

The Kildare deputy said questions needed to be asked about the attitude of some parts of Irish society to the force, especially as two gardaí, Adrian Donohoe and Tony Golden, were killed on duty in Co Louth in the past three years.

“It is extremely worrying that there are consistent levels of violence towards gardaí,” said Mr Durkan.

An analysis of the figures shows that gardaí in Louth are among the most at risk of being injured at work.

However, Waterford is the most dangerous Garda division to be stationed with more than a third of all gardaí in the county experiencing some injury since 2011.

Garda figures show 99 out of 275 officers – 36% of the total based in Waterford - have suffered injuries at work in the past five years.  The national average is just under 20%.

More than 30% of gardaí in Donegal, Louth and the Dublin West region which covers Blanchardstown, Ballyfermot and Finglas, have also been injured in the line of duty over the same period.

The safest part of the country to be stationed is the Garda division of Roscommon/Longford where just under 12% of officers have sustained a work-related injury.

Other areas with relatively low rates of injury among gardaí are Sligo, Leitrim, Mayo and Dublin North Central which includes one of the country’s busiest Garda stations, Store Street.

The figures only provide information on injuries sustained by gardaí attached to Garda stations. It does not indicate data on members attached to specialist Garda units or those stationed at Garda headquarters. (For calculating injury rates, staffing levels in December 2013 were used.)

Commenting on the figures Mr Durkan observed: “They show that gardaí are taking a serious risk when they report for duty each day. It is an appalling disregard for law enforcement officers.”

 “It is a serious challenge to the security of the state that the life and well-being of gardaí should be taken so lightly by people of that disposition. It’s no harm for society to reflect on the direction in which we are heading,” he added.

Mr Durkan said it was distressing that there were some Garda stations and divisions where there was a worrying level of disrespect for gardaí.

For example, 69 gardaí based in Tallaght have been injured at work in the past five years – almost 40% of all gardaí at the station.

In Waterford, 64 gardaí based at the city’s main station on Patrick Street suffered injuries over the same period, including 27 alone last year.

Mr Durkan said he was uncertain whether the high levels of injury were due to the problem of criminal gangs or a more general disregard for the law.

The scale of the injuries to gardaí also has an impact on the number of officers available for frontline policing as well as on the cost of compensation claims.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald revealed last week that her department was currently assessing 317 claims from gardaí who were maliciously injured in the course of their duty. Information is awaited from the Garda authorities in relation to another 550 cases.

To make a claim under the scheme, the injury must not be minor in nature and confirmation, must have occurred on duty and must not be caused as the result of wilful default or negligence on the part of the garda.

The Department of Justice paid out compensation totaling €17.6m in 2013 and €13.6m last year to gardaí injured on duty.

A recent report by the Garda Inspectorate noted that there were 258 gardaí on limited duty or restricted hours, usually as a result of injury or sickness, in March 2014 – the manpower of a small Garda division.

Full statistics on Garda injuries are available at this link.

Anyone seeking information on an individual station can contact me via the blog.

(Unfortunately the data provided by the Department of Justice was not in an easily convertible format to enable me provide statistics for each Garda station).