Defence Police Federation Chair Eamon Keating has reacted to the 4.75% pay rise award for police officers in 2024.
He said: “MDP officers will receive the same percentage increase as our colleagues in the Home Office forces we hope. We are – as we speak – applying to the department to accept this pay award in full, including the allowances and annual leave changes.
“In comparison to previous years – last year notwithstanding – it’s a reasonably good pay rise and we are grateful for it however we are disappointed that across the public sector the rises have varied quite considerably and that does cause us some concern.
“But that said this is a welcomed pay rise on the back of last year’s 7% that does make quite a significant impact into the gap we have seen on police officer pay over the last 15-20 years. It’s welcome but we are disappointed that our members may rightly feel as if they have been seen as the lowest public sector pay group by the Government.
“Our officers, and officers in policing in general, put their lives on the line on a daily basis and when you look at the impact of the environment that they work in, the restrictions that are placed on their personal lives and the expectations of the public on them, its only right that they are treated fairly and remunerate properly.
“If we don’t pay our officers well we won’t encourage people to join or stay within the police service. We are witnessing an exodus out of the service and we are all having difficulty recruiting at the moment so it is something that will need to be addressed again in the future, or the service will collapse.”
