Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cabinet committee F on national security last met in April 2019. A new Cabinet committee on security has since been established that deals with matters relating to justice, defence, Garda reform and national security. This Cabinet committee was scheduled to meet on Thursday, 10 October, but the meeting was postponed as I travelled to England on that day to meet the British Prime Minister. A meeting of the Cabinet committee will be rescheduled for later this month.

The Minister for Justice and Equality recently brought the fifth report of the effectiveness and renewal group to the Government. The report outlines the extensive progress made by the Department during the period April to July 2019. This was a pivotal period in the transformation, where Department defined the detail of the new functional design, developed business planning and process maps, defined new roles and titles, and communicated new work assignments to staff. The report has been published on the Department of Justice and Equality's website.

Regarding policing reform, A Policing Service for the Future, the Government's four-year plan to implement the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland was published in December last year. Implementation of the plan is progressing, with the building blocks phase concluding at the end of the year. Two infographics on progress to date are available on the policing reform web page on www.gov.ie.

Following on the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, the Government has established the national security analysis centre to co-ordinate across the relevant Departments and agencies in providing strategic security threat analyses to the Government. Following an open competition, the centre's director was appointed in July and the centre is bringing forward its work and establishing its business arrangements in close co-operation with the partner Departments and agencies.

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