Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The former Minister for Justice and Equality, the former Garda Commissioner and former Secretary General are gone, but little else seems to have changed. The old guard is still in place. Complaints of Garda misbehaviour continue to flood into our offices. The Taoiseach has talked a lot about political reform in the Garda area and made a lot of promises, but we have not seen much action.

The Taoiseach talks about strengthening the Garda Síochana Ombudsman Commission. The organisation is still seriously underfunded. It still bears all the hallmarks of an organisation that was designed to fail. The Taoiseach talked about giving GSOC power to investigate the Commissioner and then the Government introduced a veto for the Minister for Justice and Equality. Why did the Taoiseach tolerate his backbencher and former Minister for Justice and Equality coming in here and rubbishing the GSOC commissioners?

The Taoiseach placed himself on the Cabinet sub-committee to oversee Garda reform so I would like to think he has a personal involvement in it at this stage. Why have the terms of reference that were promised after the Guerin report not been delivered even though the Taoiseach promised that they would come in before the summer recess?

The Government appointed seven barristers without advertising the jobs to the review mechanism. Does the Taoiseach not think that Government jobs should be advertised? Does he want to keep it in house so that it is nice and cosy and he is in control of it? With regard to the review mechanism, the families and complainants have no right to interview and no right of appeal. It does not smack of a very good system and the chances of it getting to the truth do not look great.

The Government promised that the Garda authority would be up and running in 2014. Why is it not on the Government's list of legislation for this year? The Minister for Justice and Equality said that the Garda Commissioner would not be selected until the Garda authority was in place. While I might be wrong, if the Government is to appoint the new Garda Commissioner before the police authority is in place, we will get a 100% total political appointment once again. Why has the Government not given the priority to this area that it promised?

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