Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be very happy to do so and the Dáil shall have an opportunity to discuss the report also, as it is of interest to everybody.

The new Garda authority represents a radical break from what has applied for 80 or 90 years because it will be tasked with overseeing the performance of the Garda Commissioner in a wide range of policing services. It will also develop a key role in the future appointment of senior Garda management. It will have to approve a three-year strategy statement and the annual policing plan that are to be submitted to it by the Garda Commissioner. Also, within 12 months, it will establish and publish a code of ethics that will include standards of conduct and practice for members of An Garda Síochána. Over and above this, it will hold a quarterly meeting in public to engage with the community.

In addition, the authority will be enabled to request the Garda Ombudsman, GSOC, to investigate any policing matter that gives rise to a concern that a member of An Garda Síochána may have committed an offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings. It may also request GSOC, subject to the consent of the Minister, to investigate any behaviour of the Garda Commissioner in the context of his or her functions in policing matters. It may request GSOC to examine practices or procedures in An Garda Síochána in a policing matter and can request the Garda Inspectorate to initiate an inspection or inquiry into aspects of the operation or administration of An Garda Síochána in so far as they pertain to policing powers.

The question is often asked as to whether the Policing Authority will have real powers. The answer to that question is yes, it will. It will have the power to hold the Garda to account, with senior Garda management reporting to the authority, including at public meetings. It will determine Garda priorities in policing services and nominate persons for appointment by the Government to the posts of Garda Commissioner and deputy Garda commissioner. It will appoint persons to the rank of Garda superintendent, chief superintendent and assistant commissioner and be responsible for removing them for reasons related to policing services. It will also appoint persons to senior positions within Garda civilian staff. These are all important powers that the new, independent Policing Authority will have.

These proposals have been prepared in close consultation with the Office of the Attorney General to ensure they are entirely constitutional and take into account the full remit of the Constitution. In particular, consideration has been given to Article 28.

Under Article 28, as interpreted by the courts, there are restrictions on the extent to which it is open to the Government to delegate important functions relating to the Executive power of the State to another body. Overall, the proposals for the policing authority are designed to strike the right balance between on the one hand, the exercise by the authority of effective and meaningful oversight of the policing functions of An Garda Síochána and on the other hand, the retention by the Government of essential residual powers in policing in accordance with what is appropriate under Article 28. It took a deal of discussion and clarity before that could happen.

An important issue to be dealt with in the Bill is national security, a vital component of government. The Garda Commissioner of the day will continue to account fully to the Minister and to the Government on security matters. The question was asked as to whether the Garda Commissioner will account to the policing authority on national security issues and the answer is "No". As national security is a vital function of government, it is proposed that under the new oversight arrangements, the Garda Commissioner will report to the policing authority in respect of policing matters and to the Minister for Justice and Equality with regard to security matters. These are important and serious areas of evolution for the new Garda authority.

As Deputy Adams rightly points out, the Garda Inspectorate report makes 81 recommendations and is 380 pages long. Five headings of the recommendations are under structure, operational deployment practices, enabling organisational change, effective use of human resources and financial, information technology and other resource practices. Some of the key recommendations include, for example, changing the organisational structure to one that is leaner at senior management level, providing more gardaí for front-line duties. There is an idea that more gardaí could be released for front-line duties if we provided for further civilianisation, and this goes back to my response to Deputy Ó Feargháil's question. What is the level of trust and confidence between the structure and those who work as civilians in the system? Personally, I find they appear to work very well but the report indicates that this is not the case in some instances. That issue needs to be addressed.

It also indicates that the number of Garda regions should be reduced from six to three. That could be a difficult cultural issue to accept. There is some residual evidence to suggest that where it was attempted to amalgamate regions or districts, there was still adherence to the old district boundaries, and those districts that were amalgamated might not be as effective as they should be. Perhaps it takes a period for that culture to become fully understood. There is a recommendation about the possibility of over 1,000 or 1,500 fully trained and experienced gardaí going on front-line duties. The same thing might apply in a different sector, with members of the nursing profession graduating after having done courses X and Y. When they get promotion, they might not be involved with direct nursing, for which they were trained, and they could instead be on administrative duties.

There are a number of recommendations in this designed to improve accountability, leadership and supervision. There is a requirement to develop a new divisional policing model that would put communities first and more gardaí on the front line. That will probably be reflected in the report to be brought forward shortly by the Garda Commissioner. She will present a report to the Minister on changing structure for the running of An Garda Síochána. That will be an important consideration from the Commissioner's perspective. I hope the engagement between the inspectorate, the Commissioner and the Cabinet sub-committee will yield beneficial results.

There has always been a question about rosters and whether there is more or less time to be able to deal with these issues. It all points in the direction of having a strong economy that can provide the resources to deal with justice and policing issues in the time ahead. That is all the more reason it is important that the recovery under way would be maintained in a competent and progressive fashion, so the strength of the economy can be released to deal with these issues, whether they relate to education, health, policing or defence, etc. We live in a very different world than we used to and it is all moving at a very fast speed. Our gardaí need to be properly resourced and have all the facilities. They need upskilling or training and they need communication systems that will be fit for purpose. The structure, which is the subject of a major report, should be looked at and discussed openly and frankly in the interests of having it lean, effective, professional, competent and forward-looking. As the Deputy states, it should engage with the community.

It is always the fact that when people telephone the gardaí, it is a question of who they know or who they will call. Is there a number and is it manned? Will there be a response? In the recent fortnight, people in the communities have come out day and night to help their neighbours. There is an enormous willingness to participate in the proper running of our country. There are text alert schemes and engagement by superintendents and the inspectorate with the community councils and civilians. People talk about the issues in the past month, the provision of closed-circuit television cameras or how people can be vigilant about what goes on in communities, whether urban or rural. This is all in everybody's interest. There is a fear of burglary and other crime that sends older people to bed at night very frightened, and clearly we do not want that. There is a changing nature to burglaries, with farm equipment and livestock being targeted. Farms have been open to everybody over the years but that has now changed. There is confiscation or disruption of materials, including metals, from farms and isolated units. This is part and parcel of the challenge of the world in which we now live. GPS locators can be attached to equipment and material and if one is lucky enough, one might find out to where something is gone.

I assume we will have an engagement and the report will be back here so we can have the Dáil discuss it and people can give their views. It will be a useful engagement and I look forward to hearing both how the inspectorate will present its report, how the Garda Commissioner will respond and how the political and departmental representatives on the committee reflect on it. It is all in the interests of having a proper structure that is fit for purpose.

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