Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Attorney General advised on this. I would be glad to have a debate on the issue generally in the House, including the terms of reference and the independent review. I am unsure whether we are better off doing it when we have seen the independent review report or now. That is a matter I will take up with the Leader's office.

I wish to correct the record because some colleagues are a little unclear about the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This Minister inherited a rather flawed structure for accountability of An Garda Síochána under the 2005 Act. Many of us were highly critical of the 2005 Act introduced by a previous Government under the then Minister, Mr. McDowell. In fact the Act created a Garda Síochána that is accountable directly to the Minister. Someone suggested the force was accountable to the Legislature but that is not correct. Senators should examine the provisions of the Act. One of the problems is that it creates too close a relationship between the Minister for Justice and Equality of the day and An Garda Síochána. I remember speaking in 2004 and 2005, as did many other people, contrasting that legislation with the PSNI reforms, under which there is a policing board that is directly linked between the political leadership and the operational leadership of the Commissioner.