Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has been ongoing discussion in the House of policing reform for several years, in particular over the past 12 months. The Taoiseach may recall there was a specific focus last year on the Department of Justice and Equality and the necessity of its reform. He will remember that in December 2017 he stated on several occasions that the Department was not fit for purpose and that it needed a new structure and a new culture. Several internal changes have since been made at senior management level, including the recruitment of a second deputy secretary general. Is the Taoiseach satisfied that the Department is fit for purpose? Has enough been done to ensure that the culture which he strongly criticised has changed?

On the car bomb in Derry last Saturday night, it was pure chance that a group of teenagers which passed the car was not caught by the blast. I ask the Taoiseach to indicate the security assessment regarding the potential of the organisations suspected of involvement and the degree of co-operation between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána in regard to the organisations' activities.

On the Garda Commissioner's announcement last week regarding thousands of offences by young offenders not being prosecuted, I ask that a detailed report on the issue be presented to the Oireachtas by the Minister for Justice and Equality. To a certain extent, the announcement came out of the blue. There was no advance indication that something of that nature or scale was developing. Notwithstanding the McCabe dossier, the penalty points saga and so on, the Policing Authority described this as the most serious issue to have come before it. In light of the scale and nature of the failure and what precisely it involves, there is a need and an obligation for a full report on the matter to be presented to the Oireachtas.

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