Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the amendments, the Minister of State has said that this Bill does not expand Garda powers from the 2005 Bill. We are talking about the structure of a police authority that we are establishing. The thinking behind the establishment of this body was that it would be able to make decisions and help to stop people from accusing the Government from having its paws all over policing. Deputy Shatter would still be in his former position as Minister for Justice and Equality if different legislation had been in place to prevent him from having his paws all over policing. The idea of providing for a police authority is to do away with the previous approach by creating a buffer. However, this is not the buffer we envisaged. In the form the Government is proposing it at the moment, it is only a pup. We need a police authority that has real authority and some independence from the control of the Government. We are not getting that.

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