Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

The title "the Garda Síochána" is not used all the time and tradition does not carry through on this. Even the Title of the Bill refers to "Garda Síochána" rather than a proper title of an organisation. The police force was defined as An Garda Síochána at its founding. There has been incorrect usage since 1925 but that does not mean we should continue the tradition. Not all traditions are good and when the opportunity arises to change something that is incorrect, one should do so. If the Minister had taken the time to look through the Bill and devise his own amendment on this issue, rather than busily try to outdo us by presenting amendments at the last minute, we might have had a proper debate on this.

The legal title of the police force is An Garda Síochána. Many of us use the terms "the Garda Síochána" or "the Garda" and people know what we mean. However, this is a legal document in which one would at least expect that the title of the organisation under discussion is correct. We do not refer to Bord na gCon as "Bord the gCon", for example, and the same applies to An Bord Bia and the many State organisations that were set up with an Irish title. In many cases, we never translated such titles. Most people now know Bord Soláthar Leictreachais as the ESB, its translation into the second language of the State, but the correct legal title is the Irish version. In this case, the correct legal title of the organisation to which this legislation pertains is An Garda Síochána, rather than the Garda Síochána or simply Garda Síochána.

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