Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Everybody is on the side of the Garda Síochána and wants to see an efficient, honest and honourable force. Nobody is disputing that. The problem as outlined in this Bill is not what is happening in the middle or on the ground but at the top. The authors of this Bill are seeking to tackle the principles of political appointments and self-regulation.

The Minister of State rightly pointed out that methods of accountability are already in place. The problem is they are not working efficiently and leave an enormous amount of room for public doubt about what is happening at the top of the Garda Síochána. I am a member of the Committee of Public Accounts to which the Minister of State referred. When the Commissioner appeared before that committee in early May, his performance was lamentable. He refused to answer questions put to him. When asked the real questions, he dived for cover. When he was asked about what the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, had found about the treatment by gardaí of informants and breaches of Garda Síochána guidelines, he said he did not wish to talk about those issues. The Committee of Public Accounts does not effectively manage to illicit from the Garda Síochána the information that is necessary solely because it refuses to give it. The Garda Síochána is not accountable in part because the committee does not push issues hard enough and because those at the top are politically appointed.

That the Commissioner or anybody at the top of the Garda Síochána should be politically appointed is wrong. It means that such persons are in the hands of a Government which may ask them to do things which are either improper or politically motivated. It would be far better if, as provided for in this Bill, the appointment of the Commissioner and regulation of the Garda Síochána was changed. The Commissioner should be appointed by other means, although I do not agree with the formula proposed in that regard in the Bill. However, it should be done in manner that is detached from political appointments so that the Garda Síochána is not politicised at the top. The Garda Síochána has always been over-politicised at the top and we have had accidents here as a result. I am not suggesting that this Government is behaving improperly or doing anything improper. However, it is important we legislate to ensure future Governments cannot behave in that way. This Bill offers a possible model for appointment of a Garda Commissioner.

The second issue is self regulation, which was exposed by the penalty points investigation. I do not propose to run over any old sores. The GSOC was involved in two parallel investigations, namely, the penalty points investigation and investigation into another matter. The penalty points investigation, which by and large exonerated the Garda Síochána, was an internal inquiry by a garda appointed by the Commissioner. When the Commissioner was questioned about this at the Committee of Public Accounts his response was that he decided the garda concerned was a man of integrity. That is the problem: such matters should not be decided by the Commissioner. The appointment of that internal investigator should not have been made by the Commissioner. The other investigation going at the time was an inquiry being carried out by the Garda Ombudsman.

It took four years to complete because senior gardaí delayed, procrastinated and refused to issue documents to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. The external inquiry then issued an excoriating report about what was happening at the top of the Garda, while the internal inquiry by and large exonerated the Garda and found that three gardaí had questions to answer. This is not satisfactory as it indicates that self-regulation, that is, the appointment of gardaí internally, leads to one outcome, while independent oversight leads to another outcome. It also indicates that the Garda is prepared to delay and obstruct when it is not in its interests for an external inquiry to find out what is going on.

I welcome the Bill because greater accountability and freedom of information are long overdue. We must end political appointments of members of the Garda and Judiciary. This Bill is a first step in that direction.

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