Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Approximately 50% of my time as spokesperson for justice and equality is devoted to issues concerning An Garda Síochána. That is not surprising when one considers that it is a force of up to 13,000 members who interact with members of the public every day. One of the downsides of discussing An Garda Síochána in this House is that we only really get to focus on issues affecting An Garda Síochána when things go wrong. One of my first debates as justice and equality spokesperson was in respect of the O'Higgins report that highlighted a number of failings within the Cavan-Monaghan division of An Garda Síochána, and it correctly received much discussion in here and publicity in the media.

It is also important, however, to acknowledge the good work An Garda Síochána does every day of the week. One could say that is just a platitude and we are not here to discuss that, but in recent times An Garda Síochána has had considerable successes in terms of the investigations it does. The guilt or innocence of any individuals who are subjected to a Garda investigation is a matter for the courts, but what is apparent in recent times is that An Garda Síochána has achieved considerable success. On behalf of myself and Fianna Fáil I commend and congratulate the Garda on those recent successes. It deserves to be commended in respect of them. When gardaí make mistakes, overstep the mark or engage in wrongdoing, it is important that this House discusses and refers to that.

Similarly, when An Garda Síochána does excellent work, it is important to refer to it.

I also refer to the work of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality chaired by Deputy Ó Caoláin. The process we went through last year for the purpose of appraising and evaluating the oversight of An Garda Síochána was an excellent piece of work. Representatives of GSOC, the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Inspectorate appeared before the committee, as did the Garda Commissioner and her senior officers. It was an excellent example of how the democratic process and the representative body that is the Houses of the Oireachtas keep an overview of the statutory bodies we create. Sometimes laws are passed and statutory bodies created and we wave good-bye and have no more to do with them. It is essential that the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality continues to review the work of An Garda Síochána to see how the system can be improved on a ongoing basis. I commend the Chairman and members of the committee. The process that took place was very useful. It did not involve interaction with any Government Ministers but it was an illustration of how the Oireachtas can fulfil its very important functions pursuant to its oversight role.

When one looks at the committee's report, one will see that it has produced many recommendations relating to the specific statutory bodies established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 that are responsible for Garda oversight. GSOC appeared before the committee. I welcome its chairman, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring, and other persons from GSOC to the Public Gallery. GSOC plays a vital role in Garda oversight. As Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson, I am frequently contacted by people who complain that An Garda Síochána did not provide them with a good service. Sometimes they claim that there was Garda wrongdoing. As a politician, I cannot assess that. I can listen to them and give them advice but it is essential that we have a statutory body that is responsible for investigating allegations of Garda wrongdoing. We have the correct statutory system in place by having GSOC there to do it. I am concerned that sometimes when complaints are made to GSOC, and serious ones have been made regarding members of An Garda Síochána, it can take a very long time for those reports to be completed. I refer, in particular, to the report into a complaint made by Lucia O'Farrell about the death of her son. I suspect the reason it takes so long is a question of resources. If we are serious about these statutory bodies fulfilling an important oversight role, it is important that they are properly resourced so that they can carry out their functions. Without the necessary resourcing, we are doing them a disservice.

The statutory body with the most opportunity for development and the most potential is the Policing Authority, which is chaired by Josephine Feehily. She came before the committee and gave a very good presentation in terms of the functions of the authority. It is a body that is just starting out. I welcome the fact that the authority now has responsibility for senior appointments and promotions with An Garda Síochána. This can bring about a very significant change in the manner of promotion within An Garda Síochána. It will be an important oversight mechanism in terms of how gardaí will be promoted, what competitions will be run, whether people from lower levels can jump one or two levels to be promoted if they show excellence and whether we are prepared to allow recruitment to An Garda Síochána through some graduate promotion at higher levels rather than by means of the traditional route through Templemore. This would require the intervention of the Minister and Oireachtas but it is something on which I will be interested in seeing the Policing Authority work.

The third relevant body the committee spoke to was the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, which produces reports on how the force can be more efficient and effective. It was a matter of some concern to me when somebody mentioned recently that the inspectorate's website used to have a display of its recommendations and information on whether they had been implemented by An Garda Síochána. I understand this has now been taken down. It is extremely important that if the inspectorate is to make recommendations that will have the effect of improving An Garda Síochána, we ensure that they are followed up. There is no point in bodies making recommendations and everybody being satisfied with them but there being no review process to appraise whether the relevant changes have been implemented. If we are serious about changing the force for the better, we need to ensure the inspectorate's recommendations are properly implemented and we need to be able to see what ones have not been implemented.

The fourth body that came before the committee was An Garda Síochána itself. I know that one of GSOC's recommendations, which I support, was that some minor complaints against members of An Garda Síochána should be handled within the force. They could be complaints about discourtesy or a Garda not being particularly polite to an individual. People are perfectly entitled to make those complaints but we are clogging up GSOC by requiring it to investigate what I would refer to as minor complaints. They are matters that should be dealt with by the employer, which is An Garda Síochána.

The Garda Commissioner came before the committee and discussed the changes that are taking place at senior level in the force. This is something we must keep under constant review. We sometimes we allow personalities to take the place of the important priorities. We need to ensure that Garda reform continues at a pace. It is important, as Deputy Louise O'Reilly mentioned, that we recognise that the Irish public has faith in An Garda Síochána. This does not mean that when a complaint is made or where we have serious concerns as to potential wrongdoing in An Garda Síochána, we turn a blind eye. We would be doing the public a disservice if we did so. However, it is important to recognise that we, as legislators, have a duty to apprise the public that this House has confidence in An Garda Síochána but that there are mechanisms in place to ensure that any wrongdoing by the force is identified and that we can improve its operations by means of the inspectorate and the Policing Authority.

The Tánaiste indicated that she proposes to amend Part 4 of the Garda Síochána Act to enable GSOC to carry out its functions more effectively and efficiently and to help continue to ensure the proper accountability of the force in providing a service to the public. In doing so, I hope and presume she will take on board the recommendations in the committee's report. The Committee on Justice and Equality is the first committee of which I have been a member, and it could be the last, but it represents what is best in the Houses of the Oireachtas. People leave their party affiliations outside and work together. I commend all the members of the committee, particularly the Chairman, who is very efficient, thorough and always on time and who has produced a series of reports. The last time I spoke about one of these reports which came before the Dáil, I praised the fact that the committee was heading the stakes in terms of the number of reports produced. I think we are now up to four. I will wait to see other committees come in here to introduce their reports.

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