John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In addition to the recent issues raised by Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, the breath tests and fixed-charge notices, An Garda Síochána has been dogged by other issues in respect of the Garda whistleblowers and the Fennelly commission. Undoubtedly, that array of issues has undermined confidence in the Garda. Equally importantly, it has affected the morale of those working in the force. It would be remiss of me not to say there are thousands of gardaí who, day in, day out, work hard and diligently, and who are adversely affected by all of these issues. The Minister knows as well as I do from attending community and public events and meeting constituents that nobody speaks more highly of the Garda than members of the public when they are talking about their community gardaí and their interaction with them. The good work that is being done should not be overlooked tonight.

As Deputy Jim O'Callaghan indicated, there are significant governance, oversight and reform issues which need to be addressed. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality and the Taoiseach have mentioned on a number of occasions that there is to be a root and branch review. That term has been used extensively. Whatever we call it, it cannot be a top-down approach only. It must be bottom up, starting with the men and women who are serving their communities. They have something important to say. The review must go outside the Phoenix Park. That is a crucial point. I do not have time to go over all the proposals contained in the motion, but they need to be dealt with and in a timely fashion.

I do not want this to sound personal in respect of the Minister, but I need to say it. I believe it was a mistake that she did not attend the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, conference in Killarney recently. I do so because of the state of crisis and chaos around the Garda - the low morale and confidence issues. The Minister's attendance would have been an opportunity for her to share her vision and direction. After all, it is these men and women who will be charged with managing and operating the front-line services of the Garda in the future. Their annual conference should have been afforded that courtesy. I feel strongly about this matter.

In addition to the changes recommended by Deputy Jim O'Callaghan in his contribution and in our motion, we need to be mindful of the structures that are already there. There is an internal audit unit and a professional standards unit, which should be used to the full. I was slightly concerned when I asked a parliamentary question and got the reply that in 2012, the internal audit unit conducted 29 audits, in 2015 it conducted 13 audits and in 2016 it conducted 15 audits. At a time when we seem to have more issues with An Garda Síochána, risk assessment should be higher. When the Garda is embroiled in issue after issue, the internal mechanisms in terms of risk assessment and internal audits are not functioning properly. While the recommendations in our motion tonight are being implemented and the review takes place, those existing structures and mechanisms should be used to the full.

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