Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to take up the questions asked by Deputy Daly on the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. Of course I take note of what the new chairperson of GSOC had to say when she appeared before the committee. I will meet her, and the Department is in contact with GSOC. She has been in position for approximately a year. She is a very effective and competent chair doing a very good job. As the committee will see from the annual GSOC report for 2015, which has just been released, the Garda Commissioner and An Garda Síochána came back to GSOC within approximately 22 days with the details of 93.5% of complaints raised with GSOC. They are allowed 30 days but on average they come back in 22 days. There is very high compliance. With regard to a number of individual cases, the chairperson indicated she would feel extra powers were necessary or would be helpful for GSOC, but the vast majority, more than 90%, of details sought from An Garda Síochána were given immediately and within the timeframe outlined in the legislation. We have to welcome this.

It will never be an easy relationship, and it should not be, between GSOC and An Garda Síochána because it is in a supervisory role and is the ombudsman for complaints to An Garda Síochána. We made very significant changes to the powers of GSOC over the past two years, including making it a body for receiving protected disclosures and giving it the power to investigate complaints against the Garda Commissioner. These are significant powers. The establishment of the Policing Authority brought a new dimension to oversight of policing in the State. We have been continually asked to move policing away from any sort of political involvement. We set up these new bodies, the Policing Authority and GSOC, and these independent bodies are charged with very important work regarding policing. My view is we need to support them to be as effective as possible.

GSOC received an increase of €500,000 in 2016 and the Estimates are being kept under review. It has had some difficulties in recruiting people and the recruitment has been somewhat slower than it could anticipate. I do not believe it spent all of the money we have given it for recruitment. We are committed to increasing its staff, supporting recruitment and supporting it financially. If there are particular issues with which it feels it needs financial support, we are committed to doing this. If legislative change is required, and I will meet Ms Justice Ring to discuss the points she made to the committee, I will examine any changes that are necessary.

Regarding the Policing Authority, I restate my view that it is one of the most important changes that has been made in the history of policing in this country. It is fulfilling a very important role in terms of public confidence in policing. It is very important, and we do not say it often enough, that public confidence is maintained in An Garda Síochána because so much of its work is about confidence and the community having the confidence to report crimes and the confidence they will be investigated properly.

With regard to the cost of the elements of the pay agreement, the rent allowance applies to a particular cohort and the cost is approximately €4 million. The unwinding of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, is in the Estimates which the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has provided for. It is allowed for in the budget Estimates being discussed by the Government.

A point was made on developing educational programmes in the Prison Service, and this is very important. We continue to fund and support these educational programmes.

A detailed question was asked about PULSE and whether it ought to be replaced. What is happening at present is that new technologies are being introduced. Three new initiatives were funded and introduced last year. We have other funding and we must go to tender and have the tenders worked through, but effectively there will be new platforms so, as time goes on and we get greater investment, we will see that PULSE is almost being replaced because new technologies and new platforms are upgrading it all the time and making it more effective. It will not be in one big fell swoop where we decide to put in a totally new technology different from PULSE. What we are doing is building on what is there and bringing in new platforms.

A question was also asked about training, and the reform programme has a huge emphasis on training.

Senator Clifford-Lee asked about the Legal Aid Board. There is no intention to reduce the contribution. In fact, what I have said is where people are shown to have means, we will look for further contributions. Many people who are eligible for legal aid do not have the means, and this is why they get the supports they do.

Equally, quite a lot of Deputies have raised with me a concern about people getting legal aid. If they are shown to have resources and supports then they should make a contribution.