Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Speaking yesterday, the Minister failed to acknowledge or address the third objective of the Bill, as set out in the explanatory memorandum, namely, to reduce ministerial control and political influence over the Garda Síochána. He emphasised his view that because the Garda is responsible for State security and law enforcement, he could not risk the proposed board being involved in policing. On the contrary, it is precisely because of the excessive concentration and centralisation of power in the hands of the Garda and Government that the proposed board and restructuring are necessary. This Bill will help to ensure excessive or unaccountable power over the police is not concentrated in the hands of party politicians.

The Minister also proposed that oversight and accountability were already adequately provided for by the offices of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and Garda Síochána Inspectorate. This is not the case. The former is a body that deals with complaints made by individual citizens about their treatment by individual gardaí. This does not constitute oversight of Garda policies and procedures or involvement in the drafting of codes or human rights proofing of policies. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission does not hold the Garda Commissioner to account in any sense or assess his performance in relation to policing plans, strategies and priorities. Similarly, the Garda Síochána Inspectorate cannot provide the type of independent oversight envisaged for the proposed board because it may only act or report on matters when instructed to do so by the Minister.

The Minister expressed a concern that a 16 member board would not be able to operate effectively. Either he did not read or he chose to ignore the section which provides that the board would have a full complement of staff to assist it, as is the case in respect of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Moreover, the composition of the board is broadly in line with a recommendation by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and a motion passed by the Labour Party in 2001 calling for a policing authority to be established with approximately 15 members.

Rather than address the substantive points raised in the Bill about the structure of policing, the Minister preferred to devote much of his time to nitpicking about the composition of the board. The experience of people such as the Ombudsman for Children and Data Protection Commissioner would be invaluable to the board. The idea of such individuals serving on more than one board is not as foreign as the Minister suggests. Given the strong emphasis on human rights in the proposed board, the experience of these two officeholders would be particularly apt.

The Minister also believes that the appointment of the Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate to the board would create a conflict of interest. Given the focus in the Bill on co-operative development of policing policy and the partnership approach envisaged between the Garda Commissioner and proposed board, this appointment would be particularly appropriate. Again, I wonder if the Minister has considered the measured arrangements proposed in the Bill in any depth or with any seriousness.

The value of transparency is promoted throughout the Bill by the requirement on the board to publish all relevant codes, operational policies and procedures and the requirement on the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to receive and publish follow-up details of investigations. Publication of and access to these documents has long been recommended by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Irish Human Rights Commission.

The Bill also provides for greater transparency by identifying the Garda Síochána as a public body for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act. It is disturbing to note that the Minister is prepared to ignore the recommendations of the United Nations with regard to Ireland's non-compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, particularly Article 7. He has also chosen to ignore the 2009 recommendations of the Irish Human Rights Commission which are reflected in many of the proposals in the Bill.

Yesterday, the Minister and other speakers on the Government side demonstrated a lack of understanding of the true meaning of the concept of democratic accountability and what is required in this regard. Democratic accountability in its purest form means accountability of the Garda to the people. From the bottom up, the board would take into consideration the recommendations of joint policing committees. The proposals allow for a multi-layered form of democratic accountability rather than the very limited form about which the Minister spoke.

The Minister indicated the Garda Commissioner is currently answerable to the Dáil via the Minister by virtue of the ability of Deputies to table parliamentary questions. This is nonsense. If a question is tabled which relates to operational matters, the Minister will indicate that it is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. The Dáil has very limited power because Parliament is totally controlled by the Executive. So much for the argument that the Garda Commissioner is held to account by elected representatives.

That so many politicians are determined to prove their support for and dedication to the Garda Síochána further limits the Dáil's potential to hold the Garda to account.

They were falling over themselves in their attempts to be identified as pro-Garda. I am not anti-Garda, but I believe it is in the interest of every citizen, including all the honest gardaí, that there is real accountability in our police force, a police force for the people and not just a tool of Government.

There is a couple in the Visitors Gallery tonight who say they have been subjected to repeated Garda harassment through inappropriate searches, false accusations and seizure of mobile telephones over the past year or so. They also allege an assault by a garda during one of the searches. They have two children, eight and nine years old, who have witnessed some of this intimidation. The children are afraid, find it difficult to sleep and they wet the bed. They do not want to be at home in case the gardaí come again. These people feel that accountability would help.

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