Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, who unfortunately cannot be present, I thank all of the Deputies who have contributed to this debate. The Minister is pleased that the Bill before us has attracted a significant degree of consensus, particularly regarding its key provisions which provide for the expansion of the remit and powers of both GSOC and the Garda Síochána Inspectorate. The Minister is grateful to Deputies for their support for these aspects of the Bill and hopes, given the level of consensus that has been demonstrated, that it will be possible to enact this Bill quickly.

As the Minister outlined in her opening contribution, this Bill is one of a series of measures being taken by the Government as part of a comprehensive programme of justice reform which will substantially strengthen Garda accountability. This reform programme is being informed to a substantial extent by the excellent work undertaken by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. In line with the recommendation of that committee, for example, section 11 of the Bill will allow the Garda Inspectorate to conduct, on its own initiative, inspections or inquiries relating to particular aspects of the operation and administration of An Garda Síochána. At present the inspectorate can only do so with the prior consent of the Minister.

I wish to inform Deputies that this Bill is not, and was never intended to be, the only or primary legislative response of this Government to the relevant work of the aforementioned Oireachtas committee. Deputies will be aware that the Minister has published the scheme of a Bill for the proposed new policing authority which takes into account a significant number of the recommendations made by the joint committee. The Bill is being drafted on a priority basis and the scheme has been considered by the joint committee in the course of pre-legislative scrutiny. The Minister is looking forward to publishing the Bill and bringing it before the Oireachtas as soon as possible. In addition, the Government has approved the nomination of Ms Josephine Feehily as the chairperson designate for the policing authority and she participated in the selection process for the appointment of the Garda Commissioner, Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan by the Government, following an open and competitive competition organised by the Public Appointments Service. Ms Feehily will be involved in the arrangements for the establishment of the authority.

Overall, the recommendations made by the joint committee are being examined in the context of the Government's reform programme. Deputies will be familiar with the fact that on 19 December 2014, in accordance with the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004, the Minister laid before this House a draft of the order, which includes the terms of reference, proposing the establishment of a commission of investigation to address the recommendations of Mr. Seán Guerin, senior counsel, in his report on allegations made in respect of certain Garda matters. The Minister also made a statement outlining the reasons for the establishment of the commission. All of the matters recommended by Mr. Guerin for inclusion in a commission of investigation are included in the terms of reference. A resolution approving the draft order is required to be passed by each House of the Oireachtas. The relevant resolution has been tabled for discussion and approval by this House on 28 January. This will provide an opportunity for Deputies to debate the matter. Subject to approval by the Houses, the Government will then take the order establishing the commission.

In the course of the debate on this Bill, Deputies referred to the independent review by a panel of counsel about allegations of Garda misconduct or inadequacies in the investigation of cases. The Minister previously outlined that the role of the independent review is, effectively, to assess those cases with a view to determining to what extent, and in what manner, further action may be required. Where counsel recommend further investigations, the Minister will be very strongly guided by that advice. Clearly there are a number of possible options for further investigations, in particular by way of referral to GSOC.

Any recommendation for a referral of a case to a commission of investigation will be very carefully considered, including whether this could be achieved by way of amending the terms of reference of an existing commission or the establishment of a separate commission.

Reference was made to a number of specific topics, including the significant contribution to policing made by the Garda Reserve. The Minister is very much aware of the excellent work undertaken by members of the reserve. In terms of overall Garda recruitment, reserve members are provided with an opportunity under the Garda admission and appointment regulations to demonstrate the experience they have acquired as reserves. This takes place during the interview process managed by the Public Appointments Service and enables reserve members to highlight their skills. In that regard, it is significant to note that of the 100 Garda recruits who entered the Garda College in September last year, 23 were members of the Garda Reserve. As Deputies will be aware, this was the first intake of Garda recruits since 2009 and it was followed by an intake of a further 100 new recruits in December last which also included former Garda Reserve members. An additional intake of 100 recruits is due to enter training at the end of this month, bringing to 300 the number of recruits in the Garda College since last September. This development is a measure of the Government's commitment to the Garda Síochána.

The first intake of recruits will attest as members of the Garda Síochána in May 2015 and will be assigned to Garda stations by the Garda Commissioner. It is a key objective of the Garda Commissioner to allocate all the resources at her disposal in a manner which maximises their impact on the protection of members of the public and prevention and detection of crime. In that context, Garda management keeps under continuing review developments in respect of security assessments, crime trends and policing priorities to ensure the best possible use is made of resources.

The operation of Garda rosters was also raised. The new Garda roster was introduced on a pilot basis in April 2012 after negotiation and agreement by Garda management and staff associations. It was developed in compliance with the European working time directive to better match the supply of and demand for resources and took on board best practice from a welfare perspective. The pilot period was extended under the Haddington Road agreement to June 2014 and has been further extended by agreement. As is the case with this pilot, the practical application of the complex systems involved has identified where changes may be required. The purpose of the current review is to identify and implement any necessary changes and this process is being actively pursued.

A number of Deputies also referred to providing the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission with access to the Garda PULSE system. In that regard, GSOC has confirmed to the Department that it is satisfied with the level of access to PULSE being provided. In addition, section 9 contains a provision that will underpin any requirement on the Garda Commissioner to provide information to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. The section, which inserts a new section 103A into the Garda Síochána Act 2005, places a statutory obligation on the Commissioner to provide GSOC, as soon as practicable, with information the commission requires for the purposes of carrying out its functions. Deputies may also be aware that an additional €1 million in funding has been made available to GSOC in 2015 to resource the organisation's activities this year. Arrangements have been put in place for a recruitment campaign for additional staff. The issues of efficiency and resources are being kept under continuing review by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

A short technical amendment is required to section 8 and the Minister intends to introduce such an amendment on Committee State. On behalf of the Minister, I express my gratitude to Deputies who have expressed support for the Bill. The Minister looks forward to its early enactment.

See this speech in context