Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I was pleased to hear the Minister specifically reference the work of gardaí in Blanchardstown during the Covid-19 crisis. I would also like to pay tribute to them, particularly the support they have given to voluntary and sporting groups in the area in the context of Fingal's Community Call scheme.

Under the current regulations, recruitment to An Garda Síochána is limited to those of 35 years or younger and the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland has recommended that this age bar be scrapped. The Minister responded to a parliamentary question I put down recently by stating that the age barrier is being considered as part of a broader review of the entry into and recruitment to the Garda. Will the Minister provide more detail about this, particularly who it is envisaged will sit on this working group and what is the expected timeline for its commencement, for its work to take place and for any changes to be made to the age barrier?

In the United States this week, we saw and we are seeing what happens when a police force systemically fails to represent the communities it polices. Within the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, it was stated very clearly that the idea of community policing has to be the policing model that Ireland adopts. It is vital the Garda reflects the very diverse communities in which it operates. I know this is something the Minister has acknowledged and it is also acknowledged by the commission's report. The Garda diversity and integration strategy, which was published last year, commits to the identification of barriers to recruiting and retaining people from diverse and minority backgrounds as Garda members, Garda staff and Garda reserves, and to work to mitigate or remove these barriers. Will the Minister give us statistics on the number of officers from diverse and minority backgrounds who are currently serving in the Garda? Will he outline what work is being done right now to implement that goal from the diversity and integration strategy? Will this work form part of the broader review of entry into the Garda to which I referred earlier?

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