James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have not received any apologies today. I welcome our witnesses, who are joining us on the call. I remind members and witnesses to mute their microphones when they are finished speaking so that we do not interfere with each other. I ask participants to switch their mobile phones to flight mode, because they can interrupt the sound recording, which is not always discernible until afterwards.

Today we are undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny of the policing, security and community safety Bill 2021. The purpose of the meeting today is to have an engagement with a number of stakeholders who have made written submissions on the aforementioned Bill. The witnesses are appearing virtually before the committee, and in all cases, from outside the Leinster House precincts. Members are appearing both virtually and physically, but in all cases, from within the Leinster House campus.

T pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2021. The purpose of the meeting is to have an engagement with a number of stakeholders who have made written submissions on the aforementioned Bill. Our witnesses are appearing virtually before the committee, and in all cases, from outside the Leinster House precincts. Members are appearing both virutally and physically, but in all cases, from within the Leinster House campus.

I welcome the witnesses. I will invite them to speak in the order in which we received written submissions. From the Policing Authority, I welcome Mr. Bob Collins, chairperson; and Ms Helen Hall, chief executive. Next, in terms of order of submissions received, I welcome representatives of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, Chief Inspector Mark Toland and Deputy Chief Inspector Pauline Shields. From the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, we are joined by Ms Doireann Ansbro, head of law and policy; and Ms Gemma McLoughlin-Burke, procedural rights fellow, who are most welcome. Last, and by no means least, from An Garda Síochána, we are joined by Commissioner Drew Harris and his colleagues, Deputy Commissioners Anne Marie McMahon and Shawna Coxon. They are welcome. It is good to have them with us to hear their views and exchanges. We have introduced a protocol whereby representatives of the Department of Justice attend our meetings as observers, not necessarily to present, but to be available to answer questions and clarify matters as the need arises. In that role, we are joined today by Mr. Doncha O'Sullivan, assistant Secretary General; and Ms Anne Barry, principal officer.

I have already mentioned housekeeping in terms of the muting of microphones. I ask participants to be mindful of that as the meeting progresses. The other point is the usual note around privilege, with which regular attendees will be familiar. For anyone who is not, it is important to reiterate our procedures. All attendees are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice to the effect that members should not criticise or make charges against a person or entity by name or in such a manner as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in regard to an identifiable person or entity, they will be directed to discontinue their remarks. For witnesses, in particular those attending remotely from a place outside of the Leinster House campus, they should be aware there are some additional limitations to parliamentary privilege. They would enjoy greater privilege were they able to participate in the meeting physically. Obviously, that is not possible for a variety of reasons. I ask them to be mindful that there may be some differentiation in the level of the immunity that they may enjoy in terms of parliamentary privilege as opposed to being in a position to be physically present. Finally, I ask all participants to strictly adhere to the subject matter rather than straying into other areas. We want to keep the discussion on topic.

The format of the meeting is that each organisation will be invited in the order in which I have introduced them to make an opening statement. Each organisation will have three minutes to do this. Once all the statements have been delivered, I will then go around the members and invite them to put questions to the witnesses. We have a procedure whereby each member is allocated seven minutes for the first round, including both the questions and responses. If time permits, we will facilitate a second round of questions. We will see how we go. Members may have other questions asked in the first round, or indeed, some other Members may join the meeting. I know that there is at least one Member who does not normally attend the committee and has indicated his wish to join the meeting later on, namely, Deputy McNamara. He is welcome to join the meeting, as is anyone else. Non-members will contribute to the meeting after committee members have asked their questions.

I invite Mr. Collins to make his opening statement to the committee. He has three minutes.