Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The backbone of a democratic state is a sense of trust between its citizens and its police force. Without that level of trust, a police force has no moral power and the citizen is no longer adequately protected by the State. In Ireland that sense of trust between citizen and police ran so deep for so long that our Garda Síochána has been able to retain its rare status of being one of the last unarmed police forces in the world. That trust is a precious aspect of Irish society and it behoves every Member of this House as democratic representatives of Irish citizens to do whatever is necessary to protect for the people of Ireland and the integrity of the Garda Síochána. We owe that to the people and to the members of the Garda force.

On 19 February I stated in this House that it was no longer appropriate for the Garda Commissioner to report to the Minister for Justice and Equality, if it ever had been. It sometimes takes a little while in Dáil Éireann for a good idea to gain currency but I am pleased that out of this whole sorry mess there is at least one seed of hope. Yesterday's decision by the Cabinet to establish a new policing authority is good news. It will be important for the new authority to have the right balance of international policing skills with community and democratic representation. We can learn much from other police jurisdictions about this. I would welcome a reciprocal presence of at least one shared board member who sits on policing authorities both North and South of the Border.

In my role on the justice committee I look forward to developing further, within the review of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, concepts such as the policing authority and the strengthened role of GSOC. However, as well as the complex and strategic organisational change that is ahead we need to consider the proper resourcing of the force. The substantial financial revenue that will be recovered by fixing the flaws in the penalty points system should be initially reinvested in the resourcing of the Garda to create a modern policing system that is fit for purpose.

On appointment to the Garda Síochána, each member swears an oath. Most of the 13,000 serving gardaí and the majority of the thousands of retired gardaí made their oaths in good faith and have conducted their working lives in accordance with that pledge. Given all that has happened over the past few weeks, it is worth reminding the House of the words of the Garda solemn declaration as sworn by every new garda: "I will faithfully discharge the duties ... with fairness, integrity, regard for human rights, diligence and impartiality, upholding the Constitution and the laws and according equal respect to all people."

Does this oath that swears regard for human rights give scope to a member of the force to retain the details of an innocent two-year-old Traveller child on its criminal surveillance data recording system? It most certainly does not. Does the Garda oath that swears fairness, integrity, legal compliance and upholding of the Constitution give scope to a member of the force to illegally and secretly tape-record privileged, confidential client-solicitor conversations? Of course it does not. Does the oath to uphold integrity and fairness leave scope for the rampant abuse of the fixed charge processing system in the manner described by the report of the Garda Inspectorate? Any Garda I know would answer "no" to all of those questions.

We need to get back to a place where the Garda oath is respected by those at the top of the tree as highly as it is regarded by those at the bottom. It is not enough for our gardaí individually to know the difference between right and wrong, yet maintain silence in the face of an injustice committed by a colleague. We need a Garda culture that applauds and welcomes those members of the force who put their hands up to highlight wrongdoing. That is the real challenge for the next Garda Commissioner.

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