Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We, obviously, support the Bill. There is considerable urgency in the appointment of a new Commissioner.

There is a certain irony in the situation when Mr. Martin Callinan resigned or jumped or was pushed - who knows - and Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan was eventually appointed to the job. We were told that she was the best person for the job, that it was a full open competition - open to everybody internationally - and there was no name on the position, but the job description that was put forward required a level of knowledge of the functioning of An Garda Síochána which nobody but Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan had at that time. We warned then that the Government was on a hiding to nothing by repeating the mistakes of the past and by failing to take on board that there were systemic problems at the top of An Garda Síochána that required a fresh approach. It is not about named individuals rather it is about institutionalised complacency, a way of working that needs to be broken up, and the only way of breaking that up is by getting in fresh blood from outside. Fresh blood can be somebody who is over the age of 55. I believe that a life's experience is good knowledge for a Garda Commissioner to have.

Since the resignation of Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan, we have had somebody else from the old hierarchy stepping into the breach. Mr. Dónall Ó Cualáin stepped in and immediately goes and sits with the lads down the back at a retirement course. In essence, we have had an organisation that has been rudderless since then because there is nobody at the top. Everybody knows the person who is at the top has no interest in staying there, is sitting in at pre-retirement courses and has had neither the energy nor the enthusiasm to revitalise this organisation in the way in which it should be.

It is not just about one person rather it is about the approach of senior management. We attended the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality last week when representatives of Garda management were there to deal with the homicide figures. It was a lesson in how in some ways nothing has changed. It would be quite clear to anybody who watched the proceedings of that good committee meeting - the committee equipped itself well and worked co-operatively and constructively in trying to get answers from Garda management - that they were gaining an insight into a strange relationship between the civilian staff inside An Garda Síochána and senior management and yet a good relationship potentially between the civilian staff and rank and file gardaí. The head of data analysis, Dr. Gurchand Singh, made the point, because, unfortunately, the committee hearings were on the day of the funeral of Detective Superintendent Colm Fox, that front-line officers such as the late Detective Superintendent Fox had co-operated well and shared data, but the implication was that the same level of co-operation with gardaí on the front line did not exist among senior management. There is an enormous problem with senior management inside An Garda Síochána that the Government has been blind to and it is doomed to repeat the same mistakes. While the future policing road show is doing the rounds to tell us what the Garda Inspectorate report told us in 2014 - it epitomises the Government in that there are many announcements, much strategy and much spin when, in fact, we all know what needs to be done anyway - we have this position at the top, which sets the tone, but which has not been filled yet. There is an urgency in that regard and that is why we support the Bill.

We want this position filled quickly, but on the right basis. Deputy Wallace is correct. We were told that there is a new system of promotions, and this, in essence, is a promotion, with the new system of the Policing Authority supposedly vetting senior appointments inside An Garda Síochána. Very recently, however, senior promotions have been made, with some people who are the subject of disciplinary investigations being appointed, and we were told that could not happen. We have a senior officer being promoted even though he is the subject of an investigation as a result of a complaint of bullying and harassment by a whistleblower. It is unbelievable. What makes it more sad is that this is in the Minister's own constituency.

We know that two young people have died in the Minister's constituency. A young man and a young woman died as a result of the drugs trade in the midlands where it has been established that gardaí are involved in that trade with drug pushers in that area, and not a single person has been charged. Not only has the complaint of the garda who came forward with evidence of that not been investigated, but the senior officer against whom he submitted the subsequent bullying and harassment complaint was promoted a number of weeks ago. One could not make it up.

We have a narrative from the Government telling us that it has learned the lessons and it is on the right road to a new transformed police force, but the reality on the ground is different. It is not only in Kerry, shocking and all as the information is that Deputy Wallace put on the record is, but the involvement in the drugs trade in the Minister's own back yard. That, more than anything else, shows that there is really no appetite for reform in this area.

We will support the legislation today but much of it is for show. We need much more delivered than we have had so far.

See this speech in context