Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The bottom line is that we queried why section 12 was not commenced. It has taken a full 12 months to commence it. Why have the competition? Why write to 18 people telling them they were successful but only appoint ten of them? That is the bottom line. There is one law. The 2005 Act is currently in situin terms of promotions of superintendents and chief superintendents. The Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015 is a new Act and one that we support. We support the idea that the authority would be responsible for promotion to the senior ranks of An Garda Síochána, but the section has not yet been commenced. Why has it not been commenced? Why has it taken 12 months for the Government to get its act together in respect of that particular section of the Act?

This speaks to a dysfunctionality at the heart of the administration of justice. We have all witnessed it in different facets and manifestations. The latest is that we cannot appoint judges now because more reform is sought. There is a basic rule - a bottom line - in terms of the administration of law which is that the existing law is the law of the land until a new law supersedes it. Everyone abides by that clear distinction.

That there would be a competition and the names of the successful applicants would be published and that the Taoiseach would then resile from his duty and responsibility, because it is his duty and responsibility under the existing law to appoint them, is wrong. It damages morale, which is already quite low in An Garda Síochána, and creates division and all sorts of issues. The Taoiseach knows that. What will subsequently happen will create further divisiveness and so on. All of that needs to be avoided in terms of the best interests of An Garda Síochána. We have been supportive of the changes, but they have not been commenced. That is not the fault of anyone except those in government. The responsibility to commence legislation resides with the Government. In the interim, the existing law of the land applies.

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