Trainee Garda Hugh Greaney has been featured in two news stories this week. In a video featuring Irish Independent Journalist, JJ Clarke, Hugh advisees prospective students to study what the components of the fitness test are and study for that specifically. When asked if he thought the fitness test was easy or should be harder, Hugh replied that is it hard enough. Hugh was also interviewed in Irish on the Nuacht on TG4 on the same question.
The issue of fitness has come to the fore in the wake of a recent Labour Court ruling which found that the entry age limit of 35 was discriminatory after a complex referral process. In 2017, the matter was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) by the Irish Supreme Court under the preliminary reference procedure, Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
In Case C-378/17 The Minister for Justice and Equality and The Commissioner of An Garda Síochána v Workplace Relations Commission, the CJEU was asked whether the then Equality Tribunal (now the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC) could disapply conflicting national legislation or whether that was the preserve of the High Court, as provided for under Article 34 of the Constitution. The CJEU found that the Equality Tribunal/WRC was a tribunal/court for the purposes of Article 267 TFEU, with the CJEU referring the matter back to the WRC to disapply the conflicting domestic law and give expression to the Equal Treatment Directive 2000/78. The WRC found the age limit to be discriminatory, as did the Labour Court on appeal. As a result, the age limit to apply to the gardaí has been increased to 50.
We in the School of Law are proud to say Hugh is a graduate of our BA Criminal Justice programme, and a prime example of our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of Quality Education and Strong Institutions. To hear more from Hugh, view the Irish Independent article on Garda Fitness.