Ms Anne Marie McMahon:

On behalf of An Garda Síochána, I extend my thanks for the opportunity to address the committee today and to provide a submission on the general scheme of the health (termination of pregnancy services (safe access zones)) Bill in advance of this meeting.

I will speak about the Bill from an operational policing perspective. An Garda Síochána welcomes the proportionate approach outlined in the Bill. We welcome the proposed graduated response whereby it is intended that engagement with individuals will occur before any enforcement, which is similar to the approach taken to Covid-19 legislation. In that regard, An Garda Síochána utilised a four-E approach: educate, engage, encourage and enforce. This served well An Garda Síochána and the communities it serves. An Garda Síochána intends to adopt a similar approach to the implementation of the proposed legislation.

However, I would like to highlight the policing concerns we have that the committee may wish to consider. These primarily relate to the parameters of the safe access zones, the issuing of warnings, Garda powers and the specific offence of harassment. On safe access zones, the difficulty from a policing perspective is the lack of clear demarcation lines on the limits of the zones in a practical sense.

An Garda Síochána has concerns about the practicalities of a warning given for a specific zone and this warning remaining in place for a zone in another part of the country. A fresh express warning in respect of each safe access zone would be more effective from a policing perspective.

Second, there is a practical issue regarding the issuing of warnings in a crowd setting to individuals specifically. An Garda Síochána requests that consideration be given to the provision of a general or crowd warning by way of signage or an announcement by loud-hailers.

While the proposed powers within the Bill are noted, they fall short of providing An Garda Síochána with an effective investigatory tool in the context of detentions or searches and seizures of evidence where suspected offences are serious in nature. For example, where there is repetitive intimidation or harassment of a service provider under the Bill, there is no power to detain individuals or conduct searches as the proposed offences are summary in nature. An Garda Síochána suggests that the specific offence of harassment be reconsidered in the context of the Bill in light of the existing offence of harassment available under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 and the existing proposed offence of harassment and stalking under the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022.

An Garda Síochána looks forward to assisting this committee to ensure the Bill is effective from an operational policing perspective.