Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I begin by referring to the work Deputies Clare Daly and Wallace have done in this area. I disagree strongly with the Deputies in respect of many issues, particularly with regard to the many challenges and choices facing our country, economy and society. That is because, like them, I have many genuinely held views in respect those challenges and choices. I acknowledge, however, that in raising a number of serious issues, Deputies Clare Daly and Wallace have made a very important contribution to the governance and administration of our police service and in respect of how we deal with matters of justice within our State. It is important to say that, particularly in view of the fact that the issue we are dealing with has been politically contested and we have exchanged views on it. Of course, it is appropriate that that is the case. We live in a society in which people want to engage in debate and exchange views with each other.

Having said that, I am of the view that there is a test by which the Government will be evaluated. I am confident we will rise to the challenge in this regard. When matters of this nature are raised in future and while everyone will still have the right, which we must protect, to approach Members of the Oireachtas and raise with them issues in respect of the administration of justice within our State, there must be alternative and robust measures, options and mechanisms open to both members of the public and the Garda Síochána which they will trust and be willing to use. We face a challenge in the context of ensuring the necessary tools, systems, organisations or whatever will be available and will be capable of being trusted by people both outside and inside the Garda Síochána. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Government are committed to ensuring this will be the case. That is why the Government has made clear the Bill is not being opposed and that it intends to put in place alternative measures in respect of the matters with which it deals.

What affirms the need to do this is not only the conclusions of the Guerin report, to which I will refer, but the detail of the report, which I have read and considered. Paragraph 9.29 on page 166 refers to a meeting for which Mr. Guerin sought the notes. He was told that the sergeant in question did not have a note of any meeting in respect of the incident in question. Mr. Guerin stated that he was furnished with a copy that was hand-written and he goes on to say that he could find no reference to the incident in the notes. The detail in the report covers a ten-year period and lays out clearly the kind of challenge to which the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, and the Government must respond. Paragraph 17.2 in the summary on page 287 states:

Confidence in the effectiveness of the policing service is important not just to encourage a necessary sense of security amongst the public, but also to ensure that there is a measure of public confidence in the likelihood of detection, prosecution and conviction where offences have been committed. The deficiencies identified in the investigations considered in this review, if they were widely replicated, would be a challenge to public confidence in the criminal justice system itself.

Clearly this is the gravity of the situation to which we must respond.

I disagree somewhat with a point Deputy Collins made. I do not believe that recognising, as Deputy Collins has done and as I do all the time in my constituency, the quality and bravery of the work of the Garda in keeping our streets and communities safe and responding to the need people have to speak the truth to power are incompatible. These priorities are completely consistent and I believe we can ensure both are realised.

This is why the measures the Government has outlined and what it wishes to do in three areas are particularly important. The first area, which many Deputies have touched on, relates to the formation and implementation of the commission of investigation. The Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, is awaiting the Cooke report in order to begin work there. The second area of importance relates to the interim measures that we must take to strengthen the role of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in respect of An Garda Síochána. The third area relates to the commitment to bring forward legislation to put in place an independent Garda oversight body. This is not simply about the set-up of institutions or the passage of legislation. It is about a cultural acceptance of what all of this means within the Garda Síochána, whose members do such brave and necessary work on our behalf and among the community they serve. This is an ongoing process that will require the commitment of everyone in this area, including Members of the Oireachtas, those in the Government, those in the Garda Síochána and those they serve and protect, the public.

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