Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Given the trooping up and down the country trying to frighten the people of rural Ireland about policing levels, it has been disappointing to sit through this debate for more than an hour last night and again today with no member of Fianna Fáil present. It is the party that closed the academy at Templemore and reduced Garda numbers. Since this is a serious issue, it is disappointing that there has been no representation from the largest Opposition party for such a prolonged period. It seems to be keeping its commentary for the public airwaves and public meetings instead of engaging in the Chamber today.

I have outlined the rationale for the non-acceptance of the Deputies' amendments. To be of further assistance, I will draw their attention to provisions in the Bill that are designed to promote a culture of co-operation and respect between the authority and the Garda, thereby minimising some of the Deputies' concerns about the potential for disagreement.

Section 24 amends the current functions of the Garda Commissioner to place an obligation on her or him to assist and co-operate with the authority in order to facilitate the performance of its functions under the Bill. Section 44 inserts a new section 62I into the principal Act that places an obligation on the authority to have regard to the importance of the Garda's functions concerning security services. Regarding the Deputies' comments about clarity in the definition of "security services", the expectation is that the likelihood of any dispute between the parties as to whether a matter is one of security will be minimal.

Notwithstanding the scale of the UK, there are examples in Northern Ireland and Scotland of matters being referred to the State Secretary and the Minister, respectively, where there are disagreements between police forces and their oversight bodies.

We must not lose sight of the fact that the role envisaged for the Minister will preserve her accountability for policing matters to this House. Deputies referenced the engagement between the Minister and her Department. She fully supports all of the amendments-----

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