Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 7, to delete lines 28 to 30 and substitute the following:"(b) the principle that effective and efficient policing is dependent on the confidence, support, engagement and cooperation of local communities and every member of the Garda Síochána or member of the civilian staff of the Garda Síochána should, in carrying out his or her functions—

(i) act professionally, ethically and with integrity,

(ii) carry out his or her functions with the aim of securing the support of, and acting in cooperation with, the local community,

and

(iii) be guided by the code of ethics under section 17 (Code of Ethics).".".

The amendment deals with the section on policing principles, which should be a cornerstone of the legislation. We see this very much in the context of our belief that the legislation, rather than being a genuinely reforming document, was a reaction in the midst of the growing outcry and emerging Garda crisis which has occurred over the past year or two. This brought the Government to recognise reluctantly the need for reform, but it has produced legislation which falls far short.

This is very much about setting the goal upfront regarding transforming a police force into a modern police service. The amendment looks at beefing up the section with the principle that effective and efficient policing would be dependent on the confidence, support, engagement and co-operation of local communities, and that every member of the Garda Síochána or member of the civilian staff of the Garda Síochána should, in carrying out his or her functions, act professionally, ethically and with integrity with the aim of securing the support of, and acting in co-operation with, the local community, and be guided by a code of ethics.

On one level, one might say this is ABC stuff and fairly straightforward, but in actual fact it is a million miles away from the manner in which An Garda Síochána has been operating, has been directed to be operated and has been perceived to operate over the past period of time. Having the support of the community and policing by consent is absolutely vital. One only has to look at the policing of the anti-water charges protests to realise, and a number of senior gardaí in the communities involved have verified to us, that the Garda has been asked to direct resources to deal with citizens engaged in protest action, often in communities where the police have been trying to build up a rapport and a relationship, and has acted in a heavy-handed way, curtailing the right to protest, which has led to a significant cost and has undermined the integrity of gardaí and how they are viewed locally.

The code of ethics part of the legislation is absolutely critical, and we will deal with it later in the course of the debate. The inclusion of a code of ethics is absolutely vital, but the way in which the Government has put it forward means it has lost all its teeth because there will be no sanction if it is breached. What is the point of having a code of ethics with no penalties if it is broken? It means the whole thing is absolutely and utterly toothless. There is a requirement already in law, under the 2005 Act, requiring the establishment of a code of ethics. We know that neither the Minister nor any of her predecessors opted to exercise this and bring in a code of ethics. Where it was to be to there, the idea of breaching it was in secondary legislation and regulation. We very much wanted to see this at the heart of the Bill, but there is no reference in the Act to the publication of the code of ethics. The provision included in the Bill is weaker than what was in the 2005 Act, even though nobody initiated or introduced what was in the 2005 Act. What the measure in the 2005 Act potentially allowed was stronger than what is proposed in the Bill, which is a watering down.

In Northern Ireland the code of ethics is substantially stronger. It is a standard built into every operation of the PSNI and a standard against which it is measured. Misconduct is investigated against the standard and a key part of it is a focus on human rights compliance and assessing the impact on human rights, including in the annual report. Unless we have this we will not have policing by consent or the support of the community. Other than this, it is total lip service, to be honest. We need to take cognisance of what the experts say in this regard. The Government's removal of section 123(2)(b) of the 2005 Act, relating to the Minister being able to introduce disciplinary sanction for a breach of ethics, is an enormous row back. It is a little bit ironic because the Government was making a major play about the code of ethics finally being introduced, but what is being introduced is far weaker than what was in the 2005 Act. The issue is whether the Government wants a scenario whereby human rights, ethical behaviour and the Garda seeing itself as being very much the servant of the population is built in at the very start of our policing principles. This is what is at stake in this, which is why we feel it is incredibly important to push it at this stage.

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