Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Joint Committee on Justice is conducting pre-legislative scrutiny, as the Deputy said, on the policing, security and community safety Bill.

I am aware of the Commissioner's comments at the committee meeting yesterday. As the Commissioner explained, we have had good engagement. I have discussed this with the Commissioner. He has come into the Department and we have had a good engagement. There have been ongoing discussions between my Department and the Commissioner during this process. We had another meeting recently and my Department will continue to engage with the Commissioner and the other bodies concerned with the Bill as drafting continues. I also look forward to receiving the justice committee report in due course. As I said, we will continue to work on this. Deputy Calleary is right: we need to get the views of the people for whom we need to implement this legislation. I said at the Garda superintendents' conference that we will listen to them and take on board their views. We all want the same thing: a world-class policing service that provides the service it has to provide to the public. At the same time, however, it has to be transparent and accountable.

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