Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In the first instance, as the Deputy has asked, I will put on record some information regarding previous reports. To date, there have been 11 reports and as Members are aware, the job of the Garda Inspectorate is to promote efficiency and effectiveness within An Garda Síochána, which is an objective shared by all Members. The inspectorate undertakes comprehensive analysis of policies and procedures in the Garda Síochána and benchmarks them against the best practices and standards of comparable police services. The most recent of the aforementioned 11 reports were the 2014 reports on crime investigation and the 2015 report. Members have discussed the 2014 reports in this Chamber a number of times. The most recent report was published on 9 December and is under active consideration.

As for the first nine reports, I have asked for detailed information and am advised by the Commissioner that of the 280 recommendations, which is a lot of recommendations, 204 have been implemented and a further 73 have been accepted with a view to implementation. Obviously, work is ongoing in respect of the crime investigation report and quite a number of changes have already been made. I will recap some changes that were recommended in those reports because it is important not to lose sight of initiatives and changes that have already happened in response to the report, although there is more work to do. In this regard, I note the establishment of a victim support office in every local Garda division and there is further work to do on developing this victim support service. In addition, a review of crime counting rules by the Central Statistics Office has been discussed in this Chamber and will have far-reaching implications for the accuracy and reliability of the compilation of statistics. Moreover, a data quality team has been established in An Garda Síochána. As has been discussed in this House, there has been significant reorganisation of Garda units with regard to various criminal activities. A criminal justice steering group now has been established to provide greater co-ordination between all bodies in the criminal justice system. In this context, I note a highly successful conference was held in Croke Park just one week ago between all the justice agencies, which again followed through on the recommendation on the need for greater co-ordination and exchange of information between the various criminal justice areas.

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