David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be quite brief. As Chairman of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, which did some pre-legislative scrutiny on this legislation, I should have spoken earlier in this debate. I apologise for being unable to do so. I was detained elsewhere.

As we know, policing is an important matter. The more I look at it, the more I am impressed to note the huge myriad of tasks performed by An Garda Síochána as our police service. Gardaí are called out for all kinds of activities. They deal with traffic and all kinds of crime and public order issues. They look after public events. They do everything and anything one can think of. We owe them an awful lot. I acknowledge Deputy Finian McGrath's suggestion that we need to start thinking more about a police service rather than a police force. I think that is a crucial mind change that we need to bring about.

When the joint committee was asked to do some work on this legislation, it decided to consult in Scotland and Belfast. I thank the authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland for facilitating us and meeting us. We are establishing a new authority, but we must bear in mind that we already have GSOC, the Garda Inspectorate, the Garda Commissioner, the management team in the Garda Síochána, the Minister and the Oireachtas committee. There are six bodies or groups involved here. The Department is involved as well. It was emphasised repeatedly in Scotland in particular that it is important for all of these groups and organisations to work together in a professional manner and have good professional relations. That does not mean there will be no tensions between them; possibly, there should be constructive tensions in this area. I call on the management of all of these organisations to ensure, as a priority, that there are proper professional working relationships between them.

It has struck me over the years that the role of the Garda Commissioner has possibly been a lonely one up to now. Many decisions have rested with the Garda Commissioner, who has been responsible for many things. One of the things we picked up in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is that the authorities there work in a way that oversees the work of the police, but also supports the work of the heads of the policing services in both jurisdictions. I would like that to happen here as well with the advent of the new authority. I believe it should work to support the work of the Garda Commissioner.

The committee recommended that the authority should be responsible for promotions above the rank of chief superintendent. The Minister has gone further by making it responsible for promotions from superintendent up. I welcome that. I call on the Minister to ensure the authority has a responsibility to oversee all promotions in An Garda Síochána, including to the ranks of sergeant and inspector etc. and is empowered to do so. This is crucially important. I do not feel the current promotion arrangements are satisfactory. I do not have time to go into the details, but I am not too happy with them.

I welcome the Minister's clarification in her speech that the authority will be established in shadow format initially. This was recommended by the joint committee. The Minister might let us know how long that will take. It was emphasised to us that it is very important for this to be done. The authority should not go live, as it were, until it is ready to do so. If it goes live too quickly, teething problems could arise and other things could go wrong.

I am pleased that a code of ethics will be established and put in place. I welcome the extensive consultation that is to take place with various bodies in respect of that. That process is open-ended.

A number of matters arise in the context of the proposed new section 62S of the Bill. It provides that the chief executive who is to be appointed "shall, at the request in writing of [an Oireachtas] committee, attend before it to give account for the general administration of the Authority." I think we need to go further than that. This provision should apply not just to the "general administration" of the authority, but also to the work, policies and procedures etc. of the authority. I think we need to widen that out.

I would like to mention another aspect of this section, which appears as a default in many Bills. I am aware that it has been taken out of some legislation. Section 62S(9) provides that "in carrying out duties under this section, the Chief Executive shall not question or express an opinion on the merits of any policy of the Government or a Minister of the Government or on the merits of the objectives of such a policy." We might need to soften that a bit. I suggest it needs to be more openly provided for that when the chairman of the authority comes before the Oireachtas committee, he or she should be able to have an open discussion with members of the committee. I think that would be quite important.

The role of information technology in An Garda Síochána is another issue that arises in the context of this legislation. I welcome what the Minister said in her speech in this respect. We need to expand on our efforts in the area of numberplate recognition. As the Garda Inspectorate said in its report earlier in the year, there is a particular need to expand the role of information technology.

The issue of security is a sensitive one.

The Bill actually manages that quite well in that it recognises that the authority must take note of it but that, ultimately, it is a matter for Executive, and under the Constitution that is the case. I also welcome the fact that the authority can call on GSOC or the Garda Inspectorate to carry out investigations and inspections as required, which is important. I am not clear whether, if such a call is made, those bodies are obliged to do so, and perhaps the Minister will clarify that point.

On the issue of civilian staff, I welcome the fact that a lot of gardaí are freed up by the hiring of civilian staff and I note that the authority will be responsible for the appointment of such staff over the rank of chief superintendent or equivalent. However, the issue of civilian staff is one that we must revisit, and perhaps both the authority and the Minister will do that. Redress of wrongs, for instance, is something that arises. I asked a question recently about the number of civilian staff who have asked to transfer out of An Garda Síochána but I was not able to get a response. My information is that quite a number have sought a transfer and I am quite concerned about morale, procedures, practices and protocols in that regard. That is an issue that we must examine further.

Garda morale is very important and is something of which the authority should take cognisance. Perhaps we should include that somewhere in the legislation as part of the remit of the authority. Another issue which arises frequently is the number of gardaí being assaulted while on duty. I have called recently for serious sanctions to be put in place in this context because An Garda Síochána is one of a number of State bodies whose members put their lives at risk for all of us. If a garda is seriously injured on duty it is incumbent on us to ensure that the message goes out that this is not acceptable. Every sanction available to us should be used, including the withdrawal of social welfare payments. I do not see why we should be paying people to assault gardaí. It is a very serious matter. Furthermore, if a garda is injured on duty, one way or another, we should put in mechanisms to ensure that adequate compensation is provided. I know legislation is due in that regard and I urge the Minister and the Department to fast-track it.

I could say a lot more on this legislation but my colleague wishes to contribute. We have done a lot of work on it already and I know the Bill will return to the Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality shortly. I commend the Bill to the House and thank the Minister and the Department for the work they have put into it to date.

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