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

Last week I published the report of the Garda Inspectorate and welcomed its analysis as providing the foundation stone for the future development of a 21st century policing service for Ireland. The report acknowledges the dedication and commitment of members of An Garda Síochána and notes that many of the issues raised have been identified in other police forces. The report makes many recommendations and one of the key ones relates to the establishment of an expert group. However, there are also recommendations relating to the establishment of around 16 other groups and I must carefully examine them to find the best way forward to manage the implementation process. Clearly, there will also be a role for a police authority and I intend to establish the group mentioned by the Deputy very shortly.

I need to consider the membership of the group. Certain recommendations were made and I will examine a range of other questions in establishing the group which I will establish shortly.

Other areas where we are taking action which reflects some of the work done in the Garda Inspectorate's report include the independent policing authority and strengthening the powers of GSOC. The Cabinet has indicated that there will be a role for the Cabinet sub-committee on justice reform also. I understand this is the first time a Government has had a Cabinet sub-committee on justice. It is important to have this mechanism to oversee the changes that we are implementing. It is a useful one to have. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, other Cabinet members and I are involved and it will help to oversee the reforms outlined in the Garda Inspectorate's report.

I wish to make a point about statistics following a report today in TheIrish Timeson the Central Statistics Office. I met the director and some of his staff to discuss what is stated in the report. I asked them for their best thinking on how we should move forward. They suggested, particularly in respect of the reclassification issue whereby the figure is 8% in Ireland and 4% elsewhere, that they would examine all 1 million entries on the PULSE system. Obviously, they are keen to ensure there has been no contamination of the statistics and that they are accurate. They are doing this independently and will report by the end of the year or the beginning of the new year. I have not announced it before, but the CSO is going to carry out a victimisation survey in Ireland also. This has not been done since 2010 and will give us the victims' perspective o their experiences of crime in Ireland. We will have the findings next year.

See this speech in context