Dáil debates

Thursday, 10 February 2005

Garda Síochána Bill 2004 [Seanad]: Second Stage.

 

12:00 pm

Photo of Aengus Ó SnodaighAengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom am a roinnt leis na Teachtaí Gregory agus Cuffe.

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Bhille, mar táimid ag fanacht le 80 bliain lena leithéid de Bhille chun leasú ceart a dhéanamh ar an tslí a ritear an Garda Síochána. In ainneoin go bhfuil ceann de na rátaí póilíneachta is airde againn ar domhan, níl an Garda Síochána éifeachtach, agus tá súil agam agus ag mo pháirtí go gcuideoidh an Bille seo é sin a dhéanamh le go mbeadh an Garda Síochána ní b'éifeachtaí agus é ag déanamh a chuid oibre agus le go mbeadh muinín ag an phobal sa Stát seo as an fhórsa póilíneachta ar an chuid seo den oileán.

It is a disgrace that this is the first major reform since the establishment of the Garda Síochána. I welcome the fact the Minister has undertaken this reform and recognise that he has accepted submissions on this issue, including recommendations from Sinn Féin. Moreover, he has proved somewhat more flexible than usual in shifting from his original position and considerably weaker proposals in this regard.

I also welcome the recommendations of the Dublin City Council mayor's commission on crime and policing published last week. I urge the Minister to take on board the findings of that document to see whether amendments, based on those findings, would be appropriate on Committee Stage, and I will table some amendments. Sinn Féin councillors Christy Burke and Nicky Keogh made submissions to the commission which were taken on board. It is good there is an all-party approach to amending this legislation to ensure it is the best possible. We have a chance to undo the problems we have had with the Garda Síochána in this State over the past 80 years.

Many people in working class communities experience higher levels of anti-social crime in particular. They have stopped reporting those crimes to the Garda Síochána and have stopped co-operating actively with it because they have come to believe the Garda Síochána does not serve their families or communities. That must change and the Garda Síochána must, once again, win the trust of every community in this State so that crime levels might be reduced rather than playing around with statistics through the PULSE system which does not reflect what is happening.

The onus for change is on the Minister. The key to this reform is some element of oversight and accountability, although the Minister does not go far enough. Much work needs to be done on Committee Stage to ensure effective oversight of the Garda Síochána and real accountability to communities. I welcome the Minister's move as a first step towards local accountability but it does not go far enough. If his lack of support for the existing local policing fora in my area of Rialto in the south-west inner city is anything to go by, then the Minister's joint policing committees will struggle to have any effect. I hope they have an effect because that is the way forward and we should go further than his recommendations.

The change in focus to a more accountable Garda Síochána is particularly welcome from a Minister who has until now done very little to increase the security of working class communities in this State, particularly in my area of which I have most experience. Only yesterday joy-riders were driving around Ballyfermot when school children were returning home from school. When one of our councillors rang the Garda Síochána, the councillor was told the only car available to Ballyfermot Garda station was busy transferring a prisoner. It is a scandal in this day and age that there was one police car available to Ballyfermot Garda station. The same is probably the case throughout the city. I would say Deputies Gregory and Finian McGrath could cite other instances where the Garda has been unable to use resources properly and where resources have not been allocated to local Garda stations.

The demand for greater community accountability dates back as far as 1925. In the Dáil debate on the Police Forces Amalgamation (Amendment) Bill 1925, Major Brian Cooper proposed the establishment of a police advisory council for Dublin, but that did not happen. The Labour Party's Tom Johnson called for greater local control. Some 80 years later we are only getting to grips with it, which is welcome.

I agree with the Minister who stated that we should never lose sight of the fact that the Garda Síochána is made up of ordinary men and women to whom we entrust the most challenging, demanding and difficult tasks in our community. They should be praised for doing that work. However, the abuse of power and privilege by a minority of gardaí has tainted the force as a whole and has led to mistrust and a loss of confidence and faith in the organisation on the part of a significant sector of society. A culture of impunity has evolved and senior management has been implicated in a number of serious incidents.

Sinn Féin does not put the Garda Síochána in the same category as the RUC or PSNI. However, the history of the Garda Síochána is not unblemished and it points to the urgent reform needed. Elements of the Garda have been involved in aggressive, undemocratic, unlawful action. Its special branch has been used as a political force against republicans over the years and must be changed from the unaccountable force within a force it has become. I would go so far as to say that the special branch in its present formation should be disbanded.

There are two ongoing tribunals into alleged Garda misconduct and a documented failure on the part of the force to co-operate with Garda Complaints Board investigations regarding, for instance, claims of excessive force against Reclaim the Streets protestors in May 2002. It is not just a case of a few bad apples. In the past there was the heavy gang, now there is an inquiry into the actions of gardaí in County Donegal. Misconduct by the Garda has included killings in disputed circumstances, torture, rape, breaking and entering, lying under oath, falsifying evidence, misappropriation of funds and drug dealing. This is an indictment of a Garda management which has not managed to deal effectively with these types of incidents on an ongoing basis and has not prevented this type of culture emerging within the force.

If I were to list all the incidents involving special branch dealings with republicans, I would be here until tomorrow and beyond. Some of the high-profile cases include the Sallins train robbery and the abuse of power by the heavy gang at that stage. The Garda totally failed to properly investigate the killing of a Sinn Féin councillor, Mr. Eddie Fullerton, in County Donegal. Proper professional standards were not adhered to in this instance, yet there was no investigation into the circumstances and no garda was called to book in this regard. Others mentioned illegal tapping of telephones. No action has been taken in regard to Garda collusion with British Intelligence.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture found, in 1993, 1998 and 2002, that persons held in certain Garda stations ran the risk of being physically ill-treated and called for greater action to prevent such occurrences. Certain stations in this city are renowned for abuse by gardaí. There have been instances of perjured evidence, assaults and stitch-ups. The victims of such behaviour have no confidence in the Garda Complaints Board and fear further intimidation by the Garda on the basis of other spurious charges.

Críochnóidh méá rá go bhfuil mé sásta tacú leis an Bhille seo ag an phointe seo, ach muna nglactar le leasuithe, beidh mé ag cur ina choinne níos deireannaí sa phróiseas.

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