Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Wallace and his colleagues on bringing forward this Bill. It is a thoughtful contribution and it is overdue in terms of what we need. Much of the focus in recent times has been on issues that are certainly important but they are not the most important in terms of what we need from An Garda Síochána.

I believe every Member of this House would agree that the overwhelming majority of the men and women in An Garda Síochána are people of the highest calibre. We are very proud of them, we know them personally, we went to school with them ,we played football with them and when we leave our children to school or go to the supermarket we meet them. They are an integral part of our community. They are proud of what they do. That is not the issue. The issue here is about the power we bestow on them, the great power and responsibility we give them on behalf of our communities and the fact that some within An Garda Síochána have abused those powers. Unfortunately, we have seen in the history of all organisations that at some time power is abused. Therefore, we need checks and balances to protect our citizens from the abuse of power but also to protect the good name of An Garda Síochána and the good name of the overwhelming majority of gardaí who have never abused power and who have often spoken out against it. I commend in particular the whistleblowers who have raised issues of considerable public importance to their own personal detriment. Long live whistleblowers.

In terms of the existing issue of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, the Garda inspectorate and other institutional changes, they did not fall out of a tree. They followed the debacle of the Morris tribunal in my home county where a nest of vipers, who were not worthy of the name "garda" had abused their power in the most appalling fashion. The Morris tribunal revealed that sorry saga, particularly the use of informers and in some cases so-called informers to gain promotion. It was an appalling period in my county's history. Mr. Justice Morris made a series of recommendations and they were to have been implemented. That is what gave birth to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission but unfortunately from the outset it did not have the powers it required to hold the Garda to account. If there is any doubt about that, it was blown away by the report that the GSOC has given to the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner in regard to what is known as the Kieran Boylan affair, the fact that a convicted drug dealer, allegedly in possession of cocaine and heroin worth €1.7 million, had charges dropped against him without any explanation. That investigation, which took four years, exposed a number of deeply troubling issues. As stated by the GSOC, it showed that the lessons of the Morris tribunal have not been learned and that it has grave concerns about the handling of informers and the retention of contemporaneous notes, which are critical to retrospective investigation. That is the reality.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, which also recently came before the committee that I chair, the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, has confirmed that it has faced serious blockages in its investigations. At times senior gardaí have questioned the relevance of the documents that it has sought to attain. There is a real need for serious additional powers to be given to it. That is the reason this legislation is so important. Sinn Féin would put forward proposals to strengthen it. We would work with the Deputies here on Committee Stage if the Bill was allowed to go forward, and it should be, to try to strengthen it. We believe there should be an independent policing authority. We would like to see more of the powers of accountability that are in the North of Ireland.

We would also like to see a good deal of what is in place in terms of the Policing Board of Northern Ireland replicated in terms of joint policing committees. The joint policing committees in this State need to be strengthened. We need to ensure that the Garda is completely independent from the State. We cannot have a situation any more where Ministers appoint senior gardaí and they in turn defend cutbacks, the closure of Garda stations, and reduction of Garda vehicles numbering in the hundreds, in the face of the clear evidence to the contrary from the Garda Representation Association and gardaí on the ground.

The days of a quid pro quoarrangement, where the Minister of the day circles the wagons around any criticism of senior gardaí while they in return circle the wagons around any criticism of the Minister by defending cutbacks, have to end. That is why this Bill is so important. We need to have full accountability for the Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission needs to have full powers and full independence from the Executive in this State. That would be in the best interests of the men and women who serve us in the Garda Síochána and all of our citizens.

When this Government came into power, it said it would act as a trailblazer. We heard exciting speeches about a new day and a new Republic. In that context, it is outrageous that this Bill was rejected as it was by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, last night. If the Government wants to make clarifications or changes, that can be facilitated on Committee Stage. I think the Deputies who introduced this Bill have made an excellent contribution. All Bills can be strengthened and tweaked. If the Government is sincere about independence, political reform, the protection of citizens and the integrity of serving members of the Garda Síochána, it will accept this Bill and amend it as necessary. Of course we know that the Government has proven that it is failing in this regard. That is a serious disappointment to our people. Nonetheless, the Opposition will continue to advocate for change in this area.

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