Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 42, line 33, to delete “to seek”.

The current subsection (1)(d) states: “to seek to secure the continuous improvement of the policing and security of the State”. The amendment would strengthen that by removing “to seek” and putting more emphasis on securing the continuous improvement of policing. We should not be seeking to do it, but actually going ahead and doing it.

In amendment No. 31 we propose to delete “with due regard” and substitute “according” to the policing principles, the objective of promoting effectiveness, etc. The obligations on the Commissioner are currently far too weak with “to seek to ensure” and “with due regard to” both used. These place no legal obligation on the commissioners and “shall seek” in the second line protects the amendment from being overly restrictive.

Is amendment No. 32 part of this group? Is this also approved? Amendment No. 32 states: "From the commencement of this Act, the Garda Commissioner shall only station" and that is related to the Irish language part of it. This was dealt with before in previous legislation. I remember it went through to the Dáil Chamber. Anything other than "shall" gives the Garda Commissioner an out. There should be no excuse for not having members of An Garda Síochána stationed in a division that includes a Gaeltacht area without being sufficiently competent in the Irish language so that they can use it with facility in carrying out their duties. The Garda Commissioner should be saying "shall" only do it and an obligation should be put on him or her to do that.