Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The context of the discussion of this Bill is the damage done to the image of the Garda Síochána by various scandals, including the whistleblower and penalty points scandals, and ongoing and blatant political policing. What we have is an attempt to make policing look like something that it is not and giving the impression that we have some form of independent and democratic control and accountability of the Garda. The Bill does not propose significant change.

When I state that we have political policing in this State I am not making paranoid accusations or claiming that all gardaí are against all of us on the left but pointing out that policing in this State operates to protect the interests of the 1% - the establishment and elite - when its interests are challenged. Despite the snorts of derision that come from establishment politicians and the media when this issue is raised, the examples of political policing are very stark at this stage. To take the example of water meter protests, massive Garda resources are being used to impose water meters on working class communities which do not want them and are protesting against them, yet the same communities are unable to access Garda resources when they need them. Almost a year ago, incredible numbers of gardaí were deployed in Clare Hall and Limewood to force water meters into housing estates. When we fast-forward to yesterday, we learn that six people were arrested in Waterford at anti-water charges protests. A YouTube video of the incident that is circulating on social media suggests policing at the protest was heavy-handed. These are regular occurrences that are no longer newsworthy because people are arrested on almost a daily basis for protesting against water meters being installed in their estates.

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