Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is nice that the Bill has come before the House at long last. The Bill was a central part of the “urgent reform” promised by the Government following the Garda crisis over a year ago. The whole area of administration and application of justice in the State has had a disturbing recent past. As a result, public confidence has been undermined and is slow to recover. The recovery has been hampered by unnecessary delays and a lack of urgency by this Government. That is, until the Taoiseach published the findings of the Fennelly report. I am glad to see the Bill before the House in the wake of the findings of the Fennelly commission. The Taoiseach tried to fight the Fennelly fire by selectively reading the findings and trying to convince himself that he was, somehow, vindicated. We all know that this is far from the truth. No amount of spin can cover up the fact that the report found that the sending of Mr. Brian Purcell to the home of the Garda Commissioner was the "immediate catalyst" for his decision to retire, and furthermore that this was a decision which the Commissioner was right to think was what he was being asked to do.

The actions of the Attorney General, which left Mr. Justice Fennelly puzzled and perplexed, only added to the debacle and were testament to what Sinn Féin was saying all along, namely, that the Government did not have a handle on affairs and was at a loss to know what to do. The actions of those involved in the entire debacle were terrifying for those of us looking on. The people who were meant to be in charge of justice were not up to the job. It was a remarkable display of incompetence and definitely did not inspire confidence among the Members of these Houses or, more importantly, the citizens. This is exactly why we need an independent policing board with proper powers to oversee the administration of justice. I repeat: this is exactly why we need an independent policing board with proper powers to oversee the administration of justice.

Sinn Féin has been consistently calling for an independent policing authority. We believe such an authority is central to the reform of policing in this State. An independent policing authority was an integral part of our reform document that we published last year, following our experiences of all submissions made in this State and the experiences of our team who negotiated the changes to policing in the North. The establishment of a policing authority is, therefore, welcome and a number of provisions in the Bill are commendable. The consultations and co-ordination with joint policing committees, in particular, is welcome. The creation of Garda performance targets is also a commendable action, as is the establishment of a Garda code of ethics. The overall objective in relation to the holding of the Garda Síochána to account and providing effective oversight is what is needed.

However, unfortunately, the Bill has a number of missed opportunities which should have ensured that the policing authority was truly independent in its functions. Contrary to what the Government is advocating, the authority, as proposed in the Bill, is not independent, nor does it have the necessary powers and functions we need. The authority, as the Government proposes, would not, if it had been established, have had any impact on the shambles of events as they unfolded during the period the Fennelly commission investigated.

Under the Bill, the Garda Commissioner will still be accountable to the Minister, as was the case when the former Commissioner was effectively sacked. This is not in any way independent and Sinn Féin will seek to amend this so that the Garda Commissioner is accountable to the authority. Continuing with the theme of independence, I am concerned regarding the limited independence of the authority in the appointment of the Garda Commissioner and the deputy Garda commissioners. We support the recommendation from Transparency International that the authority should have the unrestricted ability to appoint and remove senior officers of the Garda Síochána, irrespective of their rank. An independent member of the Judiciary appointed by the Chief Justice, not by the Minister, should be responsible for the final determination of disputes as to whether a particular matter relates to policing services or security services. We will also seek to amend this aspect of the Bill.

In general, the Bill should be amended in a number of areas to remove the requirement that the authority seek the consent of the Minister before exercising a particular function. The requirement that the authority seek the consent of the Minister before approving the annual report, as well as the Minister's, as opposed to the Garda Commissioner's, involvement in setting the Garda priorities limits the independence of the authority and undermines its very purpose. I note the flaws relating to membership of the authority. Sinn Féin has called for a 21 member authority to allow for a diverse membership that is representative of society.

This authority would comprise 12 ordinary members, who would come through the public appointments process and would be representative of society, and nine political members, who would be elected using the d'Hondt method. The chairperson should also be elected by the 12 ordinary members, as opposed to being appointed by the Minister. I believe the absence of political representation on the authority is a mistake. Political representation, as in the North, would ensure public accountability and help to develop confidence in the policing authority. The composition of this political representation that has been proposed by Sinn Féin would not compromise the independence of the authority, as it would ensure an in-built majority of 12 independent ordinary members at all times.

I note that the authority’s functions relating to the monitoring of human rights have been tampered with since the original general scheme of the Bill was first published. The human rights monitoring function is now entirely absent. Sinn Féin believes the authority has a central part to play in the monitoring of Garda compliance on human rights standards. The proposal to remove this function from the authority is unacceptable. Sinn Féin will seek to amend the Bill to re-insert this function.

While we welcome the establishment of the policing authority, the remaining challenge is to ensure the authority is truly independent in the exercise of its functions. Sinn Féin believes in a new beginning for policing, similar to that in the Six Counties. We want an open and transparent policing service that is representative of everyone residing in this State. Such a service should be strengthened, sustainable and capable of delivering on the needs of a modern force. It should help to rebuild public confidence in our justice system. This Bill goes some way towards creating such a service. As I have outlined, there are a number of ways in which the authority could be strengthened, particularly with regard to its independence and oversight responsibilities. Sinn Féin will seek to do this on Committee and Report Stages.

It is important to assert that despite the travails of recent years, the overwhelming majority of the men and women of An Garda Síochána who are serving today and have served over the decades are honourable, decent and patriotic. They deserve the full support of this State. We merely want to have a police service that does them justice. Such a service should be a genuine meritocracy in its appointment of sergeants, inspectors and superintendents. This applies right up to the Garda Commissioner, who should be appointed through an independent meritocratic process that is fully accountable to the new independent policing authority. That is where we want to get to. It is important for those of us who have known members of An Garda Síochána during our lives - we may have played football with them or served on community committees with them - and have spoken to them about the roles they play to reassert that the overwhelming majority of them deserve the loyalty and respect of these Houses. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of officers have been failed by the Garda Síochána's structures and systems and by a minority of their colleagues. That is the important message today. We are not seeking to sap the morale of gardaí or undermine the work they do. We want to make things better, stronger and more accountable. We want to boost and lift the morale of gardaí by giving them a professional policing service with some of the best standards in the world. It is important for gardaí to be able to get up in the morning and feel proud to be part of the force. That is the key challenge for us in these Houses.

See this speech in context