RANK AND file gardaí are to stage a mass public protest in Dublin city centre next week over the Government’s plans to introduce the controversial pension levy.

The protest, which is being organised by the Garda Representative Association (GRA), represents the first time members of the force have held a street demonstration since the run-up to the 1998 “Blue Flu” when members rang in sick in a row over pay.

Next Wednesday’s planned protest follows a smaller gathering yesterday morning when members of the GRA national executive protested outside the Dáil for two hours.

General secretary PJ Stone delivered a letter to Taoiseach Brian Cowen calling for measures to alleviate financial pressure on mortgage holders.

Mr Stone said that while the GRA accepted the Government needed to make savings, it had no confidence that there was a “sustainable plan of recovery based on fairness and equity”.

He questioned why public sector workers on high incomes would not be paying a higher percentage levy than those on lower incomes, such as Garda members.

Mr Stone said the Government should immediately pass legislation that would reduce the value of mortgages on residential dwellings by 20 per cent.

He said it would show that the Government had “the interests of the people of Ireland closer to their heart than the interests of big business”.

Mr Stone also called on the Government to put pressure on banks to allow mortgage holders on fixed interest rates to switch to variable rates without incurring a financial penalty.