Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The Garda Commissioner will be in a position to dismiss members of the Garda Síochána of garda sergeant or inspector rank where the Commissioner has lost confidence in the capacity of that member to discharge his or her duty and where dismissal is considered necessary to maintain public confidence in the force. There will be a provision to strengthen the existing provisions in the Bill to oblige the Garda Commissioner to supply the Minister of the day with all information of significance relating to policing or security matters necessary for the Minister or other law officers of the State to discharge their functions, in a timely fashion. There will be a new provision providing for the strengthening of the existing Garda provision in the Bill on the accountability of the Garda Commissioner. It will make it clear that the Commissioner is fully accountable to the Minister and the Government.

There will be a strengthening provision in the Bill on the system of promotion in the Garda Síochána. That may be of some interest to the House because apparently it has not connected with everyone's understanding at this stage that the Bill currently provides for a system of independent promotion at every rank in the Garda Síochána and that the chairman and the majority of members of the promotions board must be persons other than gardaí. This is being strengthened and panels for the independent members will be Government appointed under the new provisions.

There will be a change in the appointment of the Garda audit committee to be established by the commission. There will be also a professional standards unit established within the Garda Síochána to enhance best practice and to assess on a constant internal basis whether professional standards are appropriate. There will also be a provision that one of the three-person commission will be appointed as chairperson so that there will be a visible figurehead for the ombudsman commission. There will be a statutory basis for Garda and community-based CCTV systems. Last, there will be a new power which will replace a broadly analogous but narrower power under the Dublin Police Act 1924 for the Minister to appoint a person to carry out special inquiries into any aspect of Garda administration, practice or procedure which gives rise to public concern.

All these strengthening measures have been taken as a fair response to the Morris commission's second report. They are in addition to the nine reports which the Deputy Commissioner, Peter Fitzgerald, has put in place on the material from the first report. A whistleblowers' charter will be provided in statute so that any member of the Garda Síochána can, in confidence, bring to the attention of an appropriate authority any misbehaviour or abuse of power of which that member becomes aware, and it must be dealt with.

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