Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I welcome the opportunity provided by the Labour Party to debate the findings of the Morris report. I welcome the opportunity to engage constructively with the Government on how the Garda Síochána can be reformed. However, it has been very difficult to do so in the past two days because the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has thrown out amendments like snuff at a wake. It has been increasingly difficult for myself and those working with me to even track the individual amendments as they arise. It does a fundamental disservice to this House to shove matters through at the last minute, making it difficult for the House and other bodies to respond. I would be grateful if the Human Rights Commission could respond to some of these last minute amendments but we are not given the opportunity to seek the views of others. Instead, we are thrown into the Chamber to try to digest the latest missives from the Minister's fax machine.

It is important that heads roll in light of the Morris report. Last week, I sought the resignation or dismissal of the Garda Commissioner, which underlines the magnitude of the difficulties the force must overcome. The culture of complacency went all the way to the top. Garda Commissioner Conroy did not do enough when he was in receipt of strong information about what was happening in Donegal. He kept Frank McBrearty Sn. and his family under suspicion long after the dogs in the street knew they were not part of the process that led to the death of Richie Barron. He did not put his head above the parapet and deal with the real issues. Instead, he retreated to the stock response often produced by the Garda Síochána.

We need root and branch reform. It has to happen in the areas of recruitment, training, promotion and discipline — everything must change. We should have some kind of two-tiered admission to the Garda Síochána. We should recruit the brightest and best from our universities, who would enter the force at a more senior rank than ordinary recruits. We must also ensure we get the best people at junior level. We must recruit from ethnic minorities, the Traveller community and those who have come from the accession states. Otherwise, we will run the risk of going down the same road as the United States in its war on terror in Iraq in that we will not have the knowledge of the vital areas where we need to find out exactly what is going on. It is crucial we ensure recruitment to the Garda Síochána is a fair reflection of the spectrum of people living in Ireland.

I welcome the Labour Party's proposal to independently consider what went wrong and report back to us on that. It is crucial we have a clear assessment of where we stand. We must remember that we are only partially through the process Mr. Justice Morris is overseeing. Who knows what other revelations will come out? It is clear that something is rotten in the police force and that reforms are needed. I am not convinced the Garda Síochána Bill goes far enough to address them. Therefore, I welcome the contribution from the Labour Party that allows us to look deeply into what went wrong and what can be done to reform the force.

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