Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My party has been calling for Garda reform for well over a decade and we have not been doing so from an ivory tower. Our demand for reform is very much rooted in an understanding of why the communities we serve need policing and about who loses out if society is not properly policed. It is not enough to say that poverty produces crime. We need also to understand that our disadvantaged communities are also the biggest victims of crime. From minor break-ins to more serious anti-social behaviour to the shocking level of gangland homicide, crime is concentrated where vulnerable people can least afford its consequences. The reason we want reformed policing is because we want effective policing and the reason we want effective policing is because neighbourhoods in need are entitled to a policing service that safeguards their communities.

This Bill is a welcome contribution to the ongoing debate. We support the general thrust of it, although naturally we have some concerns and would propose some changes. At its heart the Bill proposes to grant enhanced powers to the Policing Authority in overseeing the performance of the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána. That much is desperately needed.

The Labour Party's Garda authority policy dates back to 2006. We freely acknowledge that the legislation we enacted in government, which finally created a Policing Authority, is by no means perfect. Fine Gael's commitment to meaningful reform of policing in Ireland was, to put it bluntly, questionable, as was the commitment of the permanent administration, the Department of Justice and Equality. As an example, let us look at what happened to the 2015 report of the Garda Inspectorate. It proposed a radical shake-up but it was given a speedy burial by the Garda Commissioner, the Minister and the Department. The Department simply does not see securing Garda accountability as a core role. Sometimes, the gardaí's best friends are in truth their worst enemies. One cannot support and assist the Garda Síochána today if one does not insist on holding it to modern standards of accountability.

I wish to refer to one issue that continues to operate as an impediment to serious public debate about the design of the institutions of State. I refer to the legal advice to the previous Government that under the Constitution policing belongs inherently to the Executive branch of Government, in other words, that it would be unconstitutional to remove the Minister and the Department from centre stage in the control of policing. We have heard some echo of that advice again today. We are told that the powers of the independent Policing Authority must, constitutionally, be circumscribed and core powers must be retained in the Department of Justice and Equality.

I am all in favour of a close and confidential role between the Government and its Attorney General but when it comes to legislating for the oversight of policing, the Government's legal advice about what the Constitution will and will not permit cannot be kept secret from the legislators. One cannot stymie desperately needed legal reforms by relying on legal advice if one refuses to publish it. I say that because other eminent lawyers do not see where this particular argument comes from. It is, after all, asserted in the context of a constitution that makes no reference, even in passing, to policing and also in the context of a common law tradition where policing was more usually seen as a branch of administrative or local government law. If we look at other countries with our legal system and similar written constitutions, we can see police forces operating at federal, state, county and municipal level. None of those states has encountered the argument that is foisted on us here, namely, that, uniquely of all our services, it would be unconstitutional to remove policing from under the thumb of Government and place it under independent oversight. In particular, in that home of the purest version of the doctrine of the separation of powers, the United States of America, there are more police forces than one could shake a stick at and no one would seriously argue that they are all constitutionally attached to the executive branch of government. This perhaps obscure and home-grown legal argument is the reason our law says that the Garda Commissioner must be appointed, and may only be removed from office, by the Government. We need to get to the root of this legal argument, which the Government relies on to insist that it must continue to remain central to the control and management of policing.

Deputy O'Callaghan's Bill does not seek to do this. To the extent that it seems to accept the status quo, the Bill is a stopgap measure.

More generally, public confidence in the ability and credibility of Garda management has been seriously undermined. In particular, Garda management has shown no ability to respond effectively to the modernisation agenda championed by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate. The problem here is not simply cultural - this is the expression senior gardaí often use - but structural. We still do not have any body with the power, duty or capacity to bring senior Garda management into the modern age. This is an age in which effectiveness, efficiency, openness, transparency and accountability are expected and delivered. Thus, we need the Policing Authority to take account of the series of impressive reports from the Garda Síochána Inspectorate and to insist that they are implemented by the Garda Commissioner. I do not mean simply that the authority should supervise the Commissioner - that is a vague concept to insert into statute. The authority should have power, having adopted an inspectorate report, to direct the Commissioner, by order, to implement the report.

I do not believe all structural reforms must await the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Nor do I believe that the reports the inspectorate has already been published must be put on ice pending another review and report. The reports make sense and they should be implemented now. Moreover, the authority should be given the power to insist on it.

Of course, we also need the independent policing review. I hope it will be both radical and comprehensive. I say as much because the Labour Party's reform agenda was never simply about senior Garda management. Our 2006 policy document called for a Garda authority and a new model of community policing to travel hand in hand. These initiatives have been ostensibly adopted but they are both still very much works in progress. We have far more to do before communities can say that they have a real sense of shared ownership of and input into the policing of their neighbourhoods. I hope the commission will make proposals for structures and arrangements to promote policing that are effective and efficient as well as fair and impartial. We need a policing service that is fully accountable to the law and the community.

The reform agenda is long. We need new members recruited to a force that is efficient and effective, one that uses modern equipment and policing methods to ensure the best possible results. We need a serious look at Garda formation and training. For example, would the college in Templemore serve us better if it was merged into a multidisciplinary third-level institution? More broadly, we need a wide range of educational, social and economic measures aimed at ending social deprivation and alienation. We need far greater urgency in tackling now the conditions that will cause crime in future. A serious concerted effort now can target young people most at risk.

Gardaí are the primary guardians of the community. They must be, and be seen to be, a part of the community. As the first Garda Commissioner, Michael Staines, put it, "The Garda Síochána will succeed not by force of arms or numbers but on their moral authority as servants of the people." Our ambition should be for a transformed service that enjoys acceptance and support throughout the community. There must be no piecemeal reacting on the hoof and no more ad hocdamage limitation. Above all else, we need a changed mindset of the Government and within Garda management.

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