Mr. Tony McGillicuddy:

I thank the Chairman, committee members and assembled guests. The Bar Council's position as outlined in the written statement is reasonably short. It steps slightly back from the situation because some of the other contributors will be able to give information from the coalface. Those of us in the barrister profession see matters that come up in court. In an arena where a number of reports are being done and commissions of investigation have been announced and are to commence their works on varying aspects of oversight and effectiveness of policing, at the same time this committee has been charged with doing this work by the Oireachtas by way of a Dáil motion. There may be a requirement for some pause to step back slightly and consider the structure of the house as a whole and the framework we will have after this is complete rather than patching up little problems here and there, fixing a few leaks while the major infrastructure of policing is not addressed.

It is important for the public and the system itself that if there is to be a Garda authority, inspectorate, ombudsman, An Garda Síochána itself and some of the subliminal things such as the policing committees that operate in communities, it will be hard for the public to know what everybody is doing. Even the interrelationship between them is difficult without having a framework at the start. Our position as outlined in our submission is that we need an overall review either by this committee or the Law Reform Commission even if that meant that whichever body was asked to do it was asked to put aside whatever other work it was doing for a number of months.

Some people might believe that is akin to asking for a Patten-like commission; I do not know if that is the case. There were different historical situations in Northern Ireland in terms of policing being a contested issue and different parameters and matters that came into the background there. Given where we are in May 2014, it is less than ten years after the introduction of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. It might be seen as a cause of concern that this committee and the other ongoing reviews and public events show that there is considerable stress in that 2005 Act.

One might say that an Act from the 1960s or 1970s might not be working properly or different bodies are perceiving different problems with it. It is more concerning that this is being perceived for a recent Act. That is why the Bar Council is calling for legislation in this area to be done properly. There might be an impetus to do something quickly but it is more important to do it properly. If one steps back a little now, one might save matters in the future. That is taking account of the public need and concerns about this area.

One must take into account policing on the ground in a changed society with more diverse racial backgrounds and mix of people, as well as being more urbanised than heretofore. Then one must consider the management and oversight of that and then over that the policing authority and the Minister and the Oireachtas having accountability. The issue of how this pyramid of responsibility works is a much more significant issue than just doing something piecemeal regarding oversight.

The Bar Council would be happy to contribute to any overall review but it believes a body such as the Law Reform Commission should draw together the different strands of reviews and recommendations in this area. One must also look back at the recommendations of the Morris tribunal to see what was done to implement them. If they have not worked, we must ask why. This could be done quickly if the impetus were there. It is important that the public knows what the proposed oversight bodies will do. For example, does the public know what the Garda Síochána Inspectorate does now?

Over the years, many of us in criminal law practice have seen gardaí not putting dates on statements, a point brought up in the Guerin report. Judges have also made criticisms about this. We have seen junior gardaí handling cases with little assistance from their seniors. How does a junior level garda who is not equipped with experience or the tools to handle a case find himself or herself prosecuting a rape case or a serious robbery? Where is the continuing professional development for these gardaí? There is a bigger picture here and far bigger than the matters being considered today. The committee should consider making that its first and overall recommendation.