Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleague, Deputy Shane Ross, on bringing forward this legislation. It is always refreshing to see Independent Deputies not only holding this Government to account but also putting forward new ideas and proposals to the House. The Bill is about Garda reform and I urge all Deputies to support it. It is about introducing new structures for the management of the Garda and safeguarding the professionalism of the force. Above all, it is about restoring public confidence and trust in our Garda service. I emphasise the word "service" here, because it is all about serving the public. We must ensure citizens have a professional police service in which they can trust.

The Bill sets out its purpose as follows:

[T]o provide for the independent appointment of Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner and senior members of the Garda Síochána, to make the removal of such members more transparent and accountable, to amend the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004 and 2013 and the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and to provide for related matters.

The reforms it proposes are urgently needed. It is about ensuring the best gardaí get to the top of the force on merit, not on the basis of political connections or strokes. We must not duck and dive on this issue. Hard work, quality policing and dedication to our citizens must be the considerations that apply when it comes to the promotion of gardaí. The old ways must change so far as promotions are concerned, but we can retain some of the old values as represented by the hard-working garda on the beat who engages with his or her community. A good police officer never demands respect but earns it. This Bill will help us to shape the future of the force.

It is helpful to consider some of the data on crime that are available to us. There were 66 homicide offences in 2011, increasing to 79 to 2012 and 80 in 2013. Fear and intimidation are a major tool in ensuring gangs maintain their hold on communities. Threats of murder have increased dramatically in the past decade, from 45 in 2004 to 348 in 2013. International data on intentional homicide from gun crime are difficult to compare due to different countries reporting in different ways. However, the rate of crime per thousand of population shows Ireland at 1.2 per 1,000, putting us ahead of England, France and China at 1.0, New Zealand at 0.9, Spain, Germany and Luxembourg at 0.8, and Sweden at 0.7.

The gardaí in Limerick led an offensive against gang related crime there. In the past decade, they have arrested more than 60 leading gang members who have been imprisoned. In 2002, John Connolly of the Health Research Board showed that the statistics of crimes carried out by drug users tallied with the strong link between drugs and crime in the public mind. They are intertwined but many gangland killings are carried out by non-drug users and people attracted to gangland crime for other reasons. Studies from the USA and Sweden have shown that environmental factors have much greater impact in lower socioeconomic groups and this means that the nurture rather than nature factor is a bigger contributor to gang membership. I raise these issues because they are connected to the broader debate on gangland killings and on having top quality gardaí at the top of the Garda.

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