Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendmentNo. 10:

In page 10, lines 17 and 18, to delete all words from and including "and" in line 17 down to and including "member," in line 18.

This is the first reference to the volunteer, reserve or other designation that will be given eventually to this part of the organisation the Minister is providing for in the legislation. I am opposed to it, first, on the basis of our history if we consider the misuse of voluntary reserve forces on this island. We do not require a volunteer or reserve force to create confidence in the Garda in the community. We need proper resourcing of the Garda Síochána and of community policing, and proper use of the Garda Síochána. When that happens we can decide whether we require an increase in Garda numbers. If we increase Garda numbers at that stage we can then examine whether the additional members should be part-time or otherwise. At that stage I would be willing to examine the proposal but considering the job the Garda Síochána has to do for the State and for the community it serves, and the job each individual garda must do, having a volunteer, reserve or any type of yellow pack force is wrong. The gardaí have an onerous and specific task, which has implications in terms of the way they carry out their duties. The Garda Síochána training was increased from six months to two years because of the additional obligations and requirements of individual gardaí in terms of understanding the law, how to deal with the public, how to arrest people, how to deal with people they arrest, how to proceed in the courts or how to deal with members of the community in their day-to-day trials and tribulations.

In this section and the related sections on the reserve or volunteer police force the Minister is saying we can hand over the duties to people who are not as fully trained as permanent members. They will not get on the job training and, unlike teachers, they will not get in-service training to keep them on top of the job. That could not happen because they would not be full-time. I presume they would not be available to become full-time. If that were the case they would apply to become full-time members of the Garda Síochána.

The Human Rights Commission and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties expressed deep concerns about this proposal. The Minister said there was consultation on the Bill with the Human Rights Commission but in regard to the concept we are dealing with now and the section that follows later, the HRC said it was seriously concerned about any proposals for the exercise of police powers by non-gardaí and that individuals who have not undergone a period of police training and education should not be granted legal power to arrest and use reasonable force. The Human Rights Commission recommends that a person should not be legally entitled to exercise police powers if they are not subject to the Garda code of ethics and, more significantly, if they do not fall within the remit of an independent complaints body for the investigation of any complaints against that person.

The Human Rights Commission has indicated that it retains its grave reservations about the final form of the proposal and in particular the possibility that police powers will be vested in individuals who are not properly trained, are not fully accountable or are not clearly identifiable as police officers. It has recommended to the Minister that anyone performing such functions needs to receive adequate training, and human rights training in particular. It has indicated its intention to closely monitor any regulations relating to these provisions.

We should not go forward with this concept because we do not have the regulations in terms of the reserve police force before us. They do not form part of the Bill and until they do, this concept should be put to one side perhaps with a view to introducing it at a later stage as a stand alone Garda volunteer force or whatever. We can then properly debate it.

For its part, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties opposes outright the establishment of a volunteer reserve. It stated that such a measure creates a parallel police force without the requisite training or accountability. It stated also that this proposal cannot be allowed given that Garda powers, by their very nature, permit them to lawfully infringe the rights of citizens to a degree that a normal citizen would not be allowed to do. It called on the Minister in its submission to abandon this proposal.

I listened to the case made on Committee Stage for this measure but it was not sufficiently strong. This proposal does not present an effective solution to the problems we face in terms of policing on this island and in this State in particular.

See this speech in context