Ireland needs a dedicated transport police force with powers of arrest and detention, SIPTU has said.
The union today launched its ‘Travel Safe’ plan in response to the "major concerns" raised by its members working in public transport.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, SIPTU's Head of Transport Adrian Kane said workers overwhelmingly support it and want to see it happen.
Existing model
He said the union’s preferred model would be a national public transport police, essentially modelled on Ireland's existing Airport Police.
"This would mean that the people would be authorised officers and they would have the powers of detention and arrest," Mr Kane said.
"After that, we would be flexible in terms of who they report to - whether it's the Department of Transport or the Department of Justice, the NTA, etc, but we think that would be an effective model," he said.
"We've done costings in relation to it, and I think the key issue for us is that people would have the power to detain and to arrest people engaged in anti-social behaviour."
Quite negligible
Mr Kane said the cost of introducing the new police force would be “quite negligible”.
"The cost that's being spent on security for the public transport system at the moment is somewhere around €10 million per annum," he said.
Deterrent
Mr Kane said it is important that Ireland has a "standout" uniformed police present on public transport as a deterrent to antisocial behaviour.
"Most political parties at this stage are on board in terms of the need for a dedicated policing unit, whether that be under the Gardaí or separate," he said.
"We're trying to move it on, trying to flesh it out, and to say this is a system, after studying international practice, that we think would work for us."
Mr Kane said if TDs want to argue that the plan should be under a particular party, at least it "starts that debate" to finalise the plans.
A Garda on duty in Dublin city centre, with a moving Luas in the background, in December 2019. Picture by: Wirestock, Inc. / Alamy Stock Photo
