Ms Doireann Ansbro:

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, thanks the committee for the opportunity to participate in today's hearing. In this statement we will summarise our key concerns with the policing, security and community safety Bill, as outlined in more detail in our two written submissions.

The ICCL welcomes the provisions for reformed police oversight mechanisms, which we regard as being broadly in line with recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Robust oversight is crucial in order to ensure An Garda Síochána is complying with its human rights obligations and is held accountable to the people it serves. Provision for independent and effective investigations into complaints against police is a key human rights requirement on the State.

The ICCL recognises that a number of welcome reforms have taken place within An Garda Síochána. However, strong and effective oversight of policing is central to the police reform process. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland was clear that reform of Irish policing is impossible without significant strengthening of our police oversight structures, including the provision of additional resources. The proposed establishment of a new policing and community safety authority, an independent examiner of security legislation, and a reformed Ombudsman are welcome. The increased references to human rights contained in the Bill compared with the 2005 Act are also encouraging.

We outlined eight recommendations in our first submission on how the Bill can be strengthened from a human rights perspective and today we will highlight four. The first recommendations is the Bill should remove all prosecutorial powers from An Garda Síochána. Both victims and accused persons have the right for their case to be prosecuted by an impartial legal professional. This was a key recommendation of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The second recommendation is the Bill should include a provision on the mandatory collection of disaggregated data on policing and use of police powers. These data should be based on equality grounds, socio-economic status, geographic location and ethnicity. Such data collection is required under international human rights law. The third recommendation is that the Garda code of ethics should expressly include human rights standards. A breach of the code should constitute a disciplinary offence. The fourth recommendation is that while we welcome provisions for independent inspections of Garda stations, the ICCL calls on the Government to provide for wholly unannounced visits to Garda custody suites unconnected to a planned inspection. Independent visits to Garda stations and other places where people are deprived of their liberty are a crucial safeguard against abuse and are a requirement under the optional protocol to the UN convention against torture, which the Irish Government has signed but must ratify and implement as a matter of urgency.

The ICCL urges the Government to ensure that the oversight bodies foreseen by this legislation are properly resourced and given sufficient powers to ensure that proper reform is delivered.