Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

We in Fine Gael want the Garda Síochána to be the best police force in the world. That statement was made here by our spokesperson, Deputy Jim O'Keeffe, some weeks ago when he was speaking on this Bill. As history shows, we were the party that set up the Garda Síochána, and we are very proud of that. We have always been very supportive, and we are often referred to as the law-and-order party, a brand and description of which I always feel very proud.

To ensure that we have the best police force in the world, it must be the best resourced, something that it is not. It must be the best trained, and training is now of a very professional nature and improving. It must also be the best motivated. Generally speaking, it is well motivated, but there are signs that people are becoming disillusioned and that young people, when they enter the force because it is their vocation and they have always wanted to be gardaí, are sometimes worn down by the back-up services, the resources and a feeling that they are operating in isolation and not receiving the right support from the Minister, the Department or this House, including representatives here. The force must also be well managed — the best managed in the world if we strive for that level of proficiency. It must be the best equipped, with cutting-edge technology and decent, modern accommodation and equipment. It is very important that we strive towards those objectives. The equipment that the Garda currently has is not adequate, and, having spoken to several gardaí in Kerry, I was quite amazed at their standard of equipment. I am sure the same is true of the rest of the country.

Having prepared notes for this evening and looked back over some research, I feel it is worth pointing out how the gardaí were set up and in what circumstances. This is the first legislation since the beginning of the State to address management and define the role of the various elements that make up the Garda Síochána. As we know, between the War of Independence in 1919 and the truce on 11 July, there was no law here, where there was war. Negotiations were entered into, culminating in the Anglo-Irish Treaty, which was signed on 6 December 1921 and ratified on 7 January 1922.

It is extraordinary that, on 9 February 1922, the inaugural meeting of the Garda Foundation Committee took place in the Gresham Hotel under the chairmanship of Michael Staines, who was the first Commissioner. If one examines the early history of the Garda Síochána, one can see what they went through to establish the force. It reminded me of Iraq. When the new regime there tried to set up a police force, the insurgents targeted it. That is why so many policemen in the new Iraq were slaughtered. When people queued up to be recruited, they targeted them. This country was no different, and we should not forget that. The young people who joined the Garda Síochána were targeted and viciously murdered. It is well worth remembering that, since it was only a little over 80 years ago. The first garda killed, on 8 November 1922, was Harry Phelan, from Mullinahone in County Tipperary. He was ruthlessly slaughtered on his way home after purchasing hurleys for a local team. In December 1923, Sergeant James Woods was murdered during an armed raid on the Garda station in Scartaglen, in my home county of Kerry. Garda Patrick Joseph O'Halloran was shot dead in 1924 in Baltinglass, in Deputy Timmins's home county of Wicklow, while attempting to arrest two armed bank raiders.

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