The potential Garda strike might hit your pocket.

With a potential Gardai strike on the horizon, bank machines around the country might be facing a cash shortage due to the lack of security that's available to those cash-in-transit services i.e companies that provide cash delivery and collection service to Ireland's main banks. The Independent are reporting that one of these companies, G4S, in the event of a strike, will basically be operating on a Bank Holiday schedule. Sources have also revealed that the major banks are currently undertaking "major planning". Speaking with The Independent, a managing director of Cash Solutions Ireland, a subsidiary of G4S, said that "due to the planned withdrawal of service by An Garda Síochána on successive Fridays in November, G4S has been in contact with customers to tell them that it will not be able to provide cash delivery and collection services on those days. We will be working with customers to mitigate the impact of this decision where possible". It's possible that some banks will increase the amount of cash that's contained in their ATM's from Thursday on, but a definitive contingency plan is yet to be formalised. As things currently stand, all Garda members have been directed to report for duty this Friday. This Friday was supposed to be the first of four days of strike action proposed by the Garda Representative Association (GRA) and Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) should there be no agreement reached in their negotiations with the Department of Justice and Equality.