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

As the Minister of State will recall, we had an extensive debate on this matter on Committee Stage. I am very alarmed. When the Minister was in attendance at an event organised by the Law Society and the IHREC, Mr. Conor Brady, a former member of GSOC, made the sensible proposal that wherever something was deemed to be a matter of State security by the Garda when the police authority or GSOC requested information, a way to separate politics from policing, which is what this Bill is supposedly about, and have an independent adjudication would be to have a member of the Judiciary appointed by the Chief Justice, Mrs. Susan Denham, decide on whether it really was a matter of State security. The Bill defines "State security", thereby providing the independent member of the Judiciary a legislative footing to decide whether the concern put forward by the Garda Commissioner was valid.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Government will not accept a sensible proposal like Mr. Brady's. I spoke to the Minister briefly as we left the Chamber and I told her that Mr. Brady's suggestion was excellent. She did not disagree but someone in the Department of Justice and Equality got a hold of the proposal and said, "Ho ho ho". That is what has happened with this Bill. Departmental officials have decided that they must retain their historical control over policing. The Government will put in place a new policing board, titled "Independent Policing Authority", to oversee policing, but the Government will still retain control over the meaty policing issues. That is disappointing.

Respected experts on policing in the State, for example, Mr. Brady and Dr. Vicky Conway, were invited by the Department of Justice and Equality, the Law Society and the IHREC to attend the event to which I referred. They gave their opinions but have been ignored by the Department. It is a large, historically conservative Department that has influenced the Minister to make these decisions. That is why votes are being called. This is big stuff. The Bill is a missed opportunity. The Government is undermining the independence of the authority from the get-go. Our party voted to support the Bill on Second Stage in good faith, expecting amendments to be made on Committee and Report Stages. Over the two days that we sat on Committee Stage, the Minister was not present. On Report Stage today, she again was not present.

The Government controls the sittings, not us. It is the Minister's choice not to be present. Unfortunately, as the Bill stands, and considering the Minister is not even present to hear the arguments we are making on it, we will be voting against it at the end of Report Stage. This is very much regretted.

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