Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That Dáil Éireann:

recognises:

— that everyone is entitled to policing that serves the people, by police services that are accountable, representative of the community and held to the highest professional and ethical standards;

— the need to hold the police and criminal justice systems to account on the basis of fairness, impartiality and objectivity; and

— that public confidence in policing bodies is contingent on them, and the persons who direct their activities, being held accountable;

notes:

— the press statement made by Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan in regard to the recent disclosures that 937,000 breath tests were wrongly recorded on the Police Using Leading Systems Effectively (PULSE) system;

— the 14,700 wrongful convictions of citizens due to Garda error; and

— the failure of Commissioner O'Sullivan to adequately explain the cause of this error and her failure in the statement to provide the clarity needed to restore public confidence in An Garda Síochána;

also notes:

— that the Tribunal of Inquiry into certain matters relating to disclosures made by members of An Garda Síochána under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014, chaired by Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, is now under way;

— that the Tribunal has been tasked with investigating serious allegations made in a Protected Disclosure concerning the actions of Commissioner O’Sullivan; and

— the potential negative impact on public confidence in An Garda Síochána when the actions of the sitting Garda Commissioner are central to the investigations of the ongoing Tribunal;

further notes that section 11(1)(c) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 stipulates that a person who holds the office of Garda Commissioner may be removed from office, where the person's removal from office would, in the Government’s opinion, be in the best interests of An Garda Síochána; and

considers that the removal from office of Commissioner O'Sullivan would be in the best interests of An Garda Síochána."

This motion is not reflective of every member of An Garda Síochána. I recognise completely that there are many honest men and women in An Garda Síochána who do a difficult job in difficult circumstances, and as I said last night, in some cases for little financial reward. I want to put that on the record.

We did not take this decision lightly. While it was stated last night during the debate on the Fianna Fáil motion that we were engaged in populism, far from it.

I also want to correct some of the inaccuracies that have been peddled in the past few days on the legality of this motion. Even last night, Deputy Thomas Byrne of Fianna Fáil stated on national television that his party could not support this motion because to so do would be illegal. That is not the case. I presume the Fianna Fáil Members have read the motion, which recognises that An Garda Síochána serves the people and that police services should be "accountable, representative of the community and held to the highest professional and ethical standards". It recognises "the need to hold the police and criminal justice systems to account on the basis of fairness, impartiality and objectivity". It notes the tribunal of inquiry which is currently under way into the disclosures. Then it:

further notes that section 11(1)(c) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 stipulates that a person who holds the office of Garda Commissioner may be removed from office, where the person's removal from office would, in the Government's opinion, be in the best interests of An Garda Síochána; and

considers that the removal from office of Commissioner O'Sullivan would be in the best interests of An Garda Síochána."

That is the wording of the motion before us and what Members are being asked to vote in favour or against is whether, in their considered opinion, the removal of Nóirín O'Sullivan from her position would be in the best interests of An Garda Síochána.

This motion is in line with the legislation, which is available to the Minister and to the Cabinet and which gives the Cabinet that power to request a Commissioner to step aside in the best interests of An Garda Síochána. I also recognise there is a process if the Cabinet chooses to go down this road where the Commissioner has a right of reply to state why she believes she should not be removed from office.

Unlike the Fianna Fáil motion last night, my party is sticking to the letter of the law. We are not asking the Government to do something which it has no statutory powers to do, that is, to ask the Policing Authority to ascertain the capabilities of An Garda Síochána. There is no basis for a government to do that but everything my party has proposed in this motion is done on the basis of legislation. People need to make up their mind and they need to stop playing with the wording that is contained in the motion.

The reason we put this down is because we believe that the removal of Nóirín O'Sullivan as Garda Commissioner is in the best interests of the policing service in this State. There is no doubt but that public confidence in An Garda Síochána is at rock bottom. Nobody can argue with that. We have had scandal after scandal, fiasco after fiasco.

All of the opinion polls suggest that public confidence in Nóirín O'Sullivan is at an all-time low and the majority of people outside of this Chamber believe that she should not be in the position she currently holds. If one goes through the litany of scandals, the manner in which she has addressed them leaves a lot to be desired. She is currently the subject of a tribunal of inquiry. She was mentioned in the terms of reference of that tribunal of inquiry, which is unprecedented. She has been asked to step aside, not only by myself and my party. A former Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has suggested she should step aside while this tribunal of inquiry is ongoing. The lawyers for the whistleblowers who are the centre of the tribunal of inquiry have expressed deep concern around some of the issues, in particular, that the same legal team is representing the Commissioner as represented her predecessor. They have also said they believe it would be in the best interests of openness, transparency and accountability in respect of that tribunal of inquiry that the Garda Commissioner would step aside. These are some of the reasons my party has put forward this motion.

All Members recognise that a process of reform within An Garda Síochána needs to happen. Even the Government has recognised there needs to be a root-and-branch reform of An Garda Síochána and has initiated a commission that the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality will establish. Its work will take 12 to 18 months to complete, its draft terms of reference were published this week by the Tánaiste and we will be consulting with her on them. If anyone needed any evidence, even up to yesterday, on the suitability of the current Garda Commissioner to lead that process of reform within and to carry out her duties, I would ask him or her to look at the responses contained in the letter she gave to the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality to a number of questions, which we put to her following her appearance before that committee. One question asked on what date did the information regarding the falsified breath tests reach commissioner level and in the answer the Commissioner herself has given, she goes through the sequence of events. In March 2015, an assistant commissioner for traffic directed each divisional and district officer to ensure that mechanisms were in place to properly monitor them. It goes on to April 2015, when there was the outcome of inquiries into the western region. Those were discussed at a national traffic management meeting chaired by the superintendent of the Garda national traffic bureau.

In May 2015, further instructions were sent out to each divisional officer regarding the use of breath-test devices. In July 2015, a further clarification was sent out regarding recording equipment and data and PULSE inputs. The letter then goes on to November 2015, when the chief superintendent of the Garda national traffic bureau submitted a report to the assistant commissioner with responsibility for traffic regarding an audit which had been carried out in the southern region and completed in November 2015.

The letter then fast-forwards to April 2016, when a directive was sent out by Garda headquarters regarding the recording on PULSE and manually of readings from the breath-testing devices. Then, in May 2016, the assistant commissioner with responsibility for traffic issued a further instruction regarding the governance and oversight of mandatory alcohol testing checkpoints to ensure they complied with current policy. We were told the Garda Commissioner became aware of this instruction in June 2016. Her letter states "In June 2016 the matter was reported to the office of the Garda Commissioner and the Department of Justice & Equality was informed in writing that a national examination of MAT checkpoints was being undertaken". She even states in her reply that it was the assistant commissioner with responsibility for traffic who directed that a national examination of MAT checkpoints be carried out.

I will go further into some of the other questions we asked. One was when the Tánaiste became aware of the figures for falsification of breath tests. The Commissioner stated that on 8 June 2016 the Department was notified, which she had previously stated, and that, on that basis, she as Commissioner directed that a national examination be undertaken. Therefore, even in her responses to the justice committee, she contradicts herself. In response to one question, she states it was the acting deputy commissioner with responsibility for traffic who initiated the national audit, while in response to another, she states it was herself as Commissioner who directed it.

She goes on to state that on 10 March 2017 the Medical Bureau of Road Safety provided An Garda Síochána by e-mail with the extensive copy of data held in its databases. The Tánaiste has said that the first time she became aware of the extent of the figures was following the press conference on 23 March. The Commissioner states, in respect of that press conference:

That data continued to be subject of analysis and verification up to the date that it was publicised at the press conference on 23rd March, 2017. As a result, no report was prepared or submitted to the Commissioner’s Office or the Department of Justice & Equality prior to the press conference.

Does she honestly expect us to believe she was not aware of these figures until that press conference took place? That is what she stated in her response, namely, that no report was furnished to her office prior to the announcement of those figures. She goes on to state that two days prior to the press conference, the Policing Authority was briefed. The Policing Authority was briefed but neither she nor the Tánaiste was briefed. This represents an evasion of questions the committee have tabled and questions the public have had in recent times. The Commissioner is burying her head in the stand. Her attitude is almost like a mushroom: "I know nothing. It is not my problem." That is not good enough. Morale within the force is on the floor, public confidence in the force is on the floor and something needs to be done. The Tánaiste needs to utilise the powers available to her to remove Nóirín O'Sullivan from her position once and for all.

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