Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As a society, we give enormous powers over our very liberty to our police force, An Garda Síochána. A requirement of democratic society, therefore, is to have robust and effective oversight bodies to ensure these powers are always used proportionately and properly and as is expected by the Legislature.

I campaigned to have a Garda ombudsman established since my involvement in the noughties with events concerning policing in Donegal and issues relating to the McBrearty case. It was crystal clear to me from that point that we needed to have an independent Garda oversight body. I campaigned to have the Northern Ireland model, a single ombudsman, established. The response of the Government at the time was not to do that but to initially establish the Garda Inspectorate, which did not meet the requirements, and eventually the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, comprising three members, was established. My honest opinion is that it has not worked as well as it should or could. The actual transparency of its working since the ombudsman commission was established has lacked what was desired by all of us in pressing that legislation. Obviously investigations take some time, and obviously they have to be done in a degree of secrecy because people's reputations are at stake, but there needs to be an ongoing explanation to people as to what is happening. The recent killing of George Nkencho will require not only a robust independent investigation but also an explanation, as matters unfold, so that it is not simply something that is under investigation and we hear nothing more for a protracted period.

I support, and I have no difficulty with, the two nominees to be added to the current Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. The Minister of State has set out Emily Logan's credentials impeccably and Hugh Hume, a former PSNI officer, will be an important addition. Of course, they are being appointed to a body whose very existence is about to end, and the far more important issue for us now is to get the next iteration of an independent oversight body right. I ask the Minister to listen carefully to the views of many of us who have been involved in policing issues over a protracted period and to discuss it with us, and not bring us a finished product that we have very limited scope to alter. I echo Deputy Daly's view that this is rightly a matter for the justice committee. A lot of open discussion should happen in the pre-legislative stage before the recommendations of the commission on policing are transcribed into a Bill for us to examine.

We certainly need very careful analysis of how we are going to progress with the new iteration of a policing authority, the new iteration of a Garda oversight body, a Garda ombudsman and the other crucial recommendations that have flown from the commission report.

In supporting these two nominees, I am delighted they came through the Public Appointments Service, PAS, system, the establishment of which I championed in my own time in government to ensure that everybody appointed to State boards is vetted by an independent process. It is a very good thing that we are going to continuously get very good candidates by that process. While I have no difficulty supporting the two excellent candidates being put forward, the much more important issue, as I said, is what we do next to ensure there is absolute public confidence in the administration of justice and that we have an oversight body that is fit for purpose for policing in this State. That cuts both ways. Many members of the Garda are dissatisfied with the operation of GSOC and their input has to be taken into account in a balanced way, so we get a proper oversight body that the public have complete confidence in, the people we give powers to in the Garda have complete confidence in and we, as a Legislature, have complete confidence in.

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