Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It must be worth saying one of the main purposes of the Bill, other than bolstering the authority of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, is to alleviate much of the uncertainty and concern in the public domain about An Garda Síochána. Unfortunately, the public perception of the force has been damaged in the past couple of years. We are familiar with the whistleblowers episode, the independent operation of GSOC and the bugging incident or whatever one might want to call it. The Bill is welcome as part of a suite of measures introduced by the Government in the justice area to deal with the governance of An Garda Síochána and associated agencies. As a member of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality which is chaired by Deputy David Stanton, I am pleased to have played a role in drawing up the reports that have fed into the legislative process in this regard. It has been a thoroughly interesting experience for me as a first-time Member of Dáil Éireann and a relatively new member of the committee in question. On that basis, I commend the former Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, and the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, for the work done by the Department of Justice and Equality on the GSOC issue.

When I was drawing up my notes on the Bill, I wrote that it was an important first step in the reformation of the justice system and An Garda Síochána. Of course, that is not the case. The debate on the issues raised by the Bill was delayed for a number of weeks owing to the shenanigans of others in the House.

Since then, Ms Josephine Feehily has been appointed as chairperson of the policing authority, which was a welcome step. The appointment of Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan as Garda Commissioner, having held the interim position for a number of months, has also been confirmed. I had the pleasure of meeting the Commissioner a couple of times. From speaking with rank and file members of An Garda Síochána in recent days, I know that her appointment has been welcomed. I hope that it acts as a catalyst for confidence to be restored among gardaí so that the Garda can get back to the business at hand with certainty over its role in society. I am certain that their confidence took a knock in recent months.

I also welcome Sergeant Maurice McCabe's comments about the Commissioner's appointment. Given his public profile, it is good that he, as a serving member of the Garda, recognises the importance of her appointment and her open approach while Acting Commissioner.

The Bill deals specifically with bolstering the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, a matter that the justice committee of which I am a member debated in detail in recent months. For example, we assessed the policing authorities of Northern Ireland and Scotland and I took it upon myself to assess similar authorities in the Netherlands and Belgium. Our new authority's independence and position within the structure of policing in Ireland are to be welcome. The hierarchy that has been established is a positive step.

The Government's reform agenda in this regard is important to the public, as it provides them not only with the justice system and police service that they need, but also the ones they deserve and for which they pay. The public deserve a police system of the highest standard, one that addresses the systemic failures of the past and is prepared for the challenges currently facing society as well as those that will face it in future. In addition to the associated upcoming legislation, the Bill highlights the fact that the Government has taken lessons from the inherent faults in the justice system, its governance and its oversight procedures by putting in place robust measures. The inclusion of the Garda Commissioner under GSOC's remit for the first time is welcome. This provision allows for the creation of clear structures of accountability, the value of which cannot be underestimated as we move towards the development of a more effective and progressive system of policing. That additional police powers are being granted to GSOC to allow for investigations to be carried out regarding suspected criminal behaviour in the force is welcome.

As we have seen this year, communication between the Garda and GSOC has been troublesome, to say the least. I am glad to see that this issue is being tackled through the Bill by ensuring that the Garda provides GSOC with requested information as soon as is practicable. This will allow GSOC to carry out its work more efficiently while also avoiding the potential for disagreement between it and the Garda. Overall, this provision will strengthen the oversight of the Garda and provide GSOC with a greater ability to carry out thorough investigations. The Bill also clarifies the fact that GSOC will be entitled to carry out investigations where the identity of the garda concerned may not be known at the time the investigation begins and where a person who is not a garda may have been involved in the offence or behaviour in question. The broadening of the scope for the Minister to refer an issue to GSOC for investigation in the public interest is also a welcome development. Previously, it was not allowed.

Section 4 of the Bill is an important amendment to the Act. The time limit within which a complaint can be made to GSOC is to be extended from six months to 12 months. However, I would like this provision to be reviewed in future so as to ensure that it is the most effective means of extending the time limit for such complaints. The extension was a recommendation of the report on the review of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. In the committee's report, we recommended the possibility of allowing the time limit to run from the date upon which the complainant knew or reasonably ought to have known about the conduct precipitating the complaint. This recommendation could be worthy of consideration. I ask the Department and Minister to bear it in mind after the Bill is enacted and has had time to bed down.

Greater autonomy will be provided to GSOC under the Bill. For the first time, it will be able to carry out investigations into the practices and procedures of the Garda of its own volition and without being requested to do so by the Minister. This measure will benefit the policing service significantly and I welcome its inclusion. Furthermore, section 11 enables the Garda Inspectorate to carry out investigations on its own initiative or at the request of the Minister into aspects of the operation and administration of the Garda. Currently, such examinations can only take place at the request of the Minister. Recently, the Garda Inspectorate issued an extremely large report that detailed quite a number of recommendations. I hope that the committee will be in a position to review them in the near future.

Sections 12 and 13 are fundamental in ensuring that GSOC has the power to carry out criminal investigations thoroughly. Section 12 amends the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 and will allow GSOC to intercept communications as part of a criminal investigation. As with CAB's operations, such powers will only aid in ensuring that criminality is stamped out. Section 13 amends the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 to allow GSOC carry out surveillance as part of a criminal investigation that concerns an arrestable offence. Providing GSOC the same power as the Garda in such circumstances will make for a more effective organisation that can carry out more thorough investigations.

As I mentioned, I prepared these notes some time ago, which is why the next section in them references the independent policing authority. That has already come to be, so I will skip over it.

The Government will take a number of additional measures relating to, for example, the Public Appointments Service and the chairperson of the independent policing authority. Our committee recommended that "the selection of nominees to the Garda Authority [become] the responsibility of the Public Appointments Service, with their consideration and appointment reserved for the Minister and Government". Such a process for appointing senior personnel to the bodies in question is of the utmost importance so as to ensure that the best candidates, in terms of suitability and qualifications, are selected. While the Government did not follow this recommendation to the letter, the appointment of Ms Feehily, a person of considerable experience in Revenue and elsewhere in the public service, was a good one. I am sure that she will carry out her job well. However, future appointment processes should go through the Public Appointments Service, PAS.

The establishment of an independent review mechanism is an important aspect of justice reform as we continue to move towards the more effective and accountable system that the country requires. The purpose of an independent review mechanism is to investigate complaints about Garda misconduct. In this regard, I would like to see additional processes put in place during the next six months so as to review the implementation of existing legislation as well as this Bill.

In the area of justice, it has been the case in the past that certain items of enabling legislation for the establishment of such State agencies have been left, thereby allowing them to operate without a constant review process. While the Department is poised to be the primary source of that review, the justice committee should also have responsibility in this area. The Acting Chairman, Deputy Corcoran Kennedy, is herself a member of that committee and it is of key importance to give such authority or possibilities to that committee to review this legislation, as well as the manner in which these agencies operate. For instance, it would be of significant importance to have high-ranking members of An Garda Síochána appear before the justice committee to discuss the operation of various parts of the service, as well as representatives of other agencies such as the policing authority and GSOC itself. Even if such appearances were not on a questions-and-answer basis, the making of statements on the record of the Dáil certainly would be beneficial for public perception of how such agencies are run for the people.

Further recommendations made by the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in respect of the review of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 have been taken into account by the Minister and I hope Members will see the implementation of more of the recommendations that have yet to be included in the Bill as the Government's reform agenda progresses. To ensure that GSOC can carry out its work in an effective manner, the justice committee has recommended that consideration be given to the establishment of a helpline number through which people can determine whether a complaint is warranted and another, separate, hotline number through which a complaint can be made. This would make the complaints process more effective and therefore provide a better service to the public. Another progressive recommendation from the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality was that consideration be given to the establishment of an officer rank within the Garda Síochána. This model is based upon that used in the Metropolitan Police Service in London and such a model would allow for a streamlining of the Garda service, as well as a certain degree of specialisation in respect of the provision of policing services in the State.

The implementation of continuing professional development, CPD, courses in Garda training would be beneficial for the hard-working men and women of An Garda Síochána and for the public. It would allow gardaí to be better prepared to face the societal challenges of the day. If one compares this with other professions such as teaching, nursing or other areas in the health care sector, it is extraordinary that from the time recruits leave Templemore for their first Garda appointment and as they work their way up through the ranks, no CPD mechanism is available for them unless they are members of the rapid response unit or something along those lines, such as receiving firearms training and so on. This is something that must be done. The Garda Inspectorate highlighted the need for an investment of approximately €40 million in An Garda Síochána's computer systems. In addition to the €40 million required in that regard, I submit that a considerable sum of money is required for continuing professional development training courses within An Garda Síochána in order that its members can do their jobs efficiently and effectively.

In addition, as the economy improves and as the moratorium on public service employment is relaxed if not lifted, I hope to see increasing numbers of civilians entering the service of An Garda Síochána to take over the administrative duties of front-line members of the force at all ranks, because there is no substitute for additional members of An Garda Síochána getting out on the beat and ensuring they have a visible presence. I welcome the recent approval of the Supplementary Estimates for 2014, which allowed for the purchase, for instance, of 400 Garda vehicles this year and which I understand will be fitted out early in the new year at a cost of approximately €3 million. Those additional vehicles, which will be deployed across the State to replace vehicles that have reached the 300,000 km mark, are essential tools for An Garda Síochána to carry out its duties effectively. There are rural areas in which there are hundreds of kilometres in round trips between certain points within a particular division and even in my own constituency of Dublin North, it is essential that the vehicles there, which I am happy to report are relatively new, are updated continuously. I wish to return to the development of the knowledge base and experience of An Garda Síochána and to ensuring the knowledge gardaí have in the performance of their duty is supported both by the Department of Justice and Equality and within An Garda Síochána itself. This is why the Minister should, if the budget allows, consider continuing professional development courses for members in a manner similar to that within the teaching ranks, whose members regularly attend refresher courses in certain areas perhaps every two to three years.

I commend the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, on her work on this Bill. It is a significant step towards ensuring the public has a positive take on the operation of An Garda Síochána in terms of rooting out mistakes, ensuring they do not happen again and learning from them. I want a continued review process in this regard to occur that would include, in particular, the operation of GSOC over the coming months.

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