Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 3:

In page 7, line 15, to delete “the Minister” and substitute “a member of the judiciary, as delegated by the Chief Justice”.

I attended a seminar organised by the Law Society of Ireland and Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, spoke at the event. Conor Brady is a former member of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and editor of The Irish Timesand is a noted commentator on policing matters. At the seminar in question, he expressed some concern over the procedure for when there is a dispute between the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission or the policing authority and the force in respect of what constitutes a security matter. Let us suppose someone in the authority requested documentation or information and the Garda Commissioner indicated that she could not provide it on the grounds that it was a security matter. Rather than the Minister adjudicating on whether it was a security matter - I imagine members would accept that there could be reasonable grounds for that - we recommend it should be done by a member of the Judiciary, as appointed or delegated by the Chief Justice. We believe that would represent an appropriate independent oversight mechanism to ensure that this conflict is reasonably resolved.

Moreover, it fits the need to ensure that the new policing authority has appropriate oversight of An Garda Síochána and the need to address the concern with regard to the historical relationship between the Government of the day and An Garda Síochána and fears concerning political interference in the work of the force. If there was an independent adjudicator or a member of the Judiciary, as recommended by the Chief Justice, it would represent a more appropriate mechanism than the Office of the Minister. It would certainly address the perception and concerns around political interference or the relationship being unhealthily close, as it has been in the past. Indeed, that is a major part of the reason we are discussing this legislation and the reason we have reached this point today. That is the reason these amendments have been tabled and we trust they can be accepted. They are entirely reasonable and come from an eminent contributor, Conor Brady.