Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to respond to the Public Sector Management (Appointment of Senior Members of the Garda Síochána) Bill 2014, introduced by Deputy Ross.

The House will not need reminding of the many issues which have arisen in recent months relating to the Garda Síochána and the administration of justice. Last week, we saw the publication of the Cooke report; last month, the Guerin report was published. We know of the many various allegations by Garda whistleblowers, as well as the public disquiet regarding the penalty points system. Regrettably, as a result, we have witnessed an erosion of public confidence in the work of the Garda. It is essential in a democracy that the public has full confidence in how the Garda carries out its functions.

The Government has, therefore, rightly taken action to ensure these issues are dealt with in an independent and impartial manner that commands public confidence. The allegations about penalty points have been referred to GSOC, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, for independent investigation. The Garda Síochána Inspectorate has prepared a report on reform of the fixed-charge penalty system and its recommendations are now being implemented. I acknowledge the contribution made by Deputies opposite tonight to raising these issues. Today, the Garda announced it has commenced implementation of the inspectorate's short-term recommendations which will be welcomed by the public because they provide far greater clarity than there has been before. The inspectorate's report highlighted the significant changes necessary in this regard. A commission of investigation, headed by Mr. Justice Fennelly, has commenced work in examining the issues relating to the recording of telephone calls at Garda stations and associated matters. The Government commissioned a report by Sean Guerin into the way in which Garda whistleblower allegations regarding crime investigations were handled. The Government also commissioned a further, now-published, report by Mr. Justice Cooke into the claims of unlawful surveillance of GSOC. We will discuss that report in the House on Thursday and I look forward to having a detailed opportunity then to address matters raised about it tonight.

One by one, in each case, the Government has put in place a mechanism for an authoritative examination of claims and allegations, so the facts can be discovered, the truth established and necessary action taken. The Government also recognises, however, the issues and failings identified are resolved is more critical. A whole process to implement these recommendations is required to deal with this wide range of issues. We need not only to address specific difficulties that arise, but also to identity the kind of longer-term reforms that will ensure continued public confidence in the Garda Síochána, as well as in the vital policing and security service it provides. The Government has, therefore, initiated a comprehensive programme of reform to address the wider systemic failings in the areas of policing and the administration of justice, including those which have emerged from the Guerin report. I reject the claim by some Members opposite that it is only piecemeal reform. Any fair analysis of the range of actions taken by the Government will agree it is a comprehensive programme of reform.

The spectrum of issues that must be addressed is complex and deep-rooted ranging from high-level issues such as oversight, change management and the role of whistleblowers to local administration and internal communication, as well as matters of basic policing, performance and human resources. The Guerin report identified clearly a wide and disturbing range of issues such as the supervision of probationary gardaí and the taking of evidence. These serious issues demand a response from the Garda.

A new Cabinet committee on justice reform has been established, the first time such a high-level committee has been established. It is headed by the Taoiseach and comprises the Tánaiste, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, myself, as Minister for Justice and Equality, and the Attorney General. This committee is overseeing this comprehensive programme of policing reform. As part of this programme of reform, an independent Garda authority is to be established by the end of this year. Future appointments to the position of Garda Commissioner will be by way of open competition. I remind Deputy Ross that I have stated in several fora, including the Dáil, that this position will be advertised in July as an open competition and advertised internationally. I also hope the new Garda authority will have a role to play in that appointment.

The Garda inspectorate is to carry out a comprehensive inquiry into serious crime investigation, as well as management and operational issues arising from the findings of the report by Mr. Guerin. As was acknowledged on the radio this morning, I had a long meeting with the Garda inspectorate in the work it is doing. It will work on the issues identified in the Guerin report and report back to me.

The Government has agreed to establish a further commission of investigation as recommended in the Guerin report. On foot of last week's publication of the Cooke report, the Government will now proceed to consider the terms of reference and formally establish the commission. An independent expert review of the performance, management and administration of the Department of Justice and Equality has been established. No one can question the credentials of the range of expertise I have appointed to the review group. It has begun its work. Amendments to the Protected Disclosures Bill will be enacted to enable a Garda whistleblower to report his or her concerns to GSOC. New legislation will be introduced shortly to strengthen the remit and powers of GSOC. While the then Government in 2005 responded to the findings of the Morris tribunal, it is clear the subsequent legislation introduced then is inadequate and its failings have come to the fore. While I do not have time to go into it tonight, I have outlined several areas where the GSOC legislation will be reformed in the near future.

When the Garda authority is established later in the year we will have an opportunity to examine further changes to how GSOC operates. For the first time we will establish an independent Garda authority. This will undoubtedly be the most significant change in oversight of the Garda Síochána since its foundation. As I stated, I acknowledge change was introduced in 2005, but deeper reform is now necessary and the Garda authority will be central to this.

I set out the background to the Government's programme of reform because the Bill put forward by Deputy Ross seeks to address one single aspect of reform, namely, the way in which appointments are made to the top ranks in the Garda Síochána. It is important to appreciate how individual reforms, such as the way in which the most senior members of the force are appointed, must be designed to fit properly in the new policing regime and oversight architecture. Anybody examining this topic this evening would have to agree we should not be bringing forward reform in a piecemeal manner but in a way in which the various aspects of reform compliment each other. This is the general difficulty I have with the Bill. It puts forward a proposal on the appointment of senior members of the Garda Síochána, but does not take into account how this might fit the wider reforms under way.

Taking the proposed independent Garda authority as a key example of these reforms, as far as I can tell from comments to date it enjoys a broad measure of support across the House. I intend to bring forward the necessary legislative changes later this year so the authority can be in place by the end of the year. This is a very challenging timetable but I intend to make it a top priority. While the details of its functions will need to be fully worked out as part of this legislative process, and I look forward to discussing the details in the House, one of its more obvious potential roles will be to have involvement in the process of appointment of the most senior members of the Garda Síochána. In saying this I do not anticipate any decisions by the Government and still less of the House and serious consideration will need to be given to the issue and precisely what the nature of the involvement of the new Garda authority will be, but broadly comparable bodies, such as the police authorities in the North or in Scotland, have an important role in senior police appointments. I note the study trip undertaken by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality to examine the police authority models in these areas and their role in senior police appointments. The joint committee has also held hearings. We await the outcomes of these hearings, on which I will receive a report shortly. We also await the deliberations of the committee following its trip to examine how police authorities operate in other countries.

The issue of the functions of a new Garda authority and the question of its role in appointing senior Garda members will also be the subject of discussion at the consultation event which I will convene on Friday in Farmleigh, where key stakeholders will spend the morning discussing the new Garda authority. A wide range of stakeholders will attend the event and all of the members of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality have been invited. The outcome will certainly form part of a very important consultative process with a wide range of relevant stakeholders.

The Bill takes no account of the forthcoming Garda authority or the extensive consultations under way involving a wide range of voices. Instead the Bill proposes a prescriptive approach to a singular area of reform, isolated from consideration of other reforms. The Bill proposes a free-standing system of appointment to the senior Garda ranks by a new public appointments board, following an open competition conducted by the Top Level Appointments Committee, and involving the approval of this House in the case of the Garda Commissioner or a recommendation by an Oireachtas committee in the case of other senior ranks. I find it very difficult to see how the House could be asked to establish such a system on the eve of the introduction of proposals for an independent Garda authority. The Bill effectively states that the new independent Garda authority will have no role in the most senior Garda appointments. Leaving aside the detail of the Bill, it is premature to ask the House to take a decision now which would anticipate its decision on the role of the authority, and to take this decision in advance of considering the outcome of the substantial process of consultations now under way, including the valuable and important work of the joint committee, the consultation event taking place on Friday and the other work I have referenced.

If we look at the detail of the Bill, there is also the question as to whether a key element of it, namely a requirement for the approval of the House for the appointment of a person to the post of Garda Commissioner, is in any event the right approach. At the outset of my remarks I recalled the controversies which had arisen about the Garda Síochána, and the potential damage which the resulting political controversies could inflict on what is a vital public service. I explained how the Government had taken decisive steps to resolve these controversies in a way which was evidently independent and impartial, and which would command public attention and respect. However, one could argue that the Bill, in requiring the approval of the House for the appointment of a Garda Commissioner, would put politics right back into policing as opposed to an independent Garda authority taking the decision. By all means let us debate this at the proper time when the legislative proposals for the Garda authority are before the House, but surely we cannot introduce such a measure, with such potentially far-reaching consequences, in the Bill.

I also find it odd that the Bill, although it is designed to deal with senior Garda appointments, provides for the extension of the remit of the proposed public appointments board to other sectors within the public service. We should recall there is already a structure set out in the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act for appointments to large parts of the public service. It is also the case that the 2004 Act, which provides for the Public Appointments Service and the Commission for Public Service Appointments, can be extended to other public sector bodies by ministerial order. I would have thought that proposals for such a major change to public service appointments generally should be debated fully in their own right and not tagged on as a single section in a Bill dealing with Garda appointments.

The Bill deals with an important issue, which is the process of making appointments to the most senior positions in the Garda Síochána. I welcome the debate, but I cannot welcome or support a proposal which is premature and being put forward in isolation to the other vital reforms which I mentioned are taking place. I want to emphasise this is not because I wish to avoid reform; it is quite the contrary, and the point is that significant reforms are under way. As I stated, and I will not go into the detail again, the Government has already announced that there will be an open competition for the post of Garda Commissioner. The Government has already announced plans for a new independent Garda authority, to be in place very shortly. By any measure I believe these are some of the most important reforms to the Garda Síochána ever proposed.

I look forward to the debate on these proposals, and the contribution of all Deputies, but the discussion on the process of Garda appointments needs to be part of a wider debate. We need the process of Garda reform to be comprehensive and cohesive. We need to consider all aspects of this reform. We need to ensure, as far as we possibly can, that we get it right. This Bill does not achieve this and I therefore regret that I cannot support it.

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