Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister her opening statement, which she delivered yesterday. I am delighted to be in the Chamber today to contribute to this important debate on the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill. I am very happy with this Bill and welcome it. I recognise it is probably long overdue. I am happy to support its passage through the Oireachtas.

I do so for the following reasons. First, I have no problem in saying that I am a big fan of An Garda Síochána. I recognise how difficult and dangerous the work is. For instance, when a scuffle breaks out, most normal people move away from the scene of the incident. Yet, we expect our gardaí to move forward, to intervene and to normalise the situation. Most normal people do not hang around with dangerous drug dealers or with organised criminals. Once again, we expect our gardaí to move forward, to intervene, to confront and to actively seek out these people. We need to recognise that it is a dangerous job. If we are tasking people to do a job, we need to resource them for it. The gardaí and their families need to be aware that we are in their corner when it comes to tackling crime and to safeguarding the public.

It is appropriate that we are discussing this topic this year, because the centenary celebrations of An Garda Síochána are taking place. An Garda Síochána has watched over this country for 100 years. It is important we have the appropriate resources and structures in place to look after them. One just has to look at the roll of honour and at the number of gardaí who have been killed in line of duty to recognise how difficult and dangerous their work is.

I also support this Bill for technical reasons. First, it streamlines, simplifies and speeds up the compensation process for gardaí. This is important. Crucially, from my perspective, the financial compensation will most likely now go almost exclusively to the victim. It will not be lost in layers of bureaucracy or with legal eagles down the tracks. It will go where it is intended to go, whether that is towards the victim or to the victim's family. That is a very important point to get across.

Second, I am a big fan of the Personal Injury Assessment Board. I recognise it is an imperfect organisation, but it simplifies the process, and it takes the adversarial component out of a court case. As Deputy Catherine Murphy quite rightly pointed out, it frees up the time for the courts for what they should be doing, rather than dealing with personal injury claims that are caused by malicious intent.

Everybody wins here. The taxpayer and the gardaí and their families win. The State also wins, because it simplifies the process immeasurably. There is a good sense of balance in the Bill. There are penalties in the Bill that are codified for a very small minority of people who would seek to embellish their injuries or to submit fraudulent claims. There are penalties included and that is important from a deterrent point of view.

I just have two questions for the Minister. I would be grateful if she could kindly address them in her closing remarks. I recognise the importance of the garda compensation pathway in the Bill. I understand there is a separate scheme for prison officers. The Irish Prison Service has a separate prison service tribunal. We are hearing anecdotally in the constituency office that the awards for compensation for prison officers are generally much less than they are for members of An Garda Síochána. I would be grateful if the Minister could look into that. Whether a person gets a broken nose or a stab wound, it does not matter what shade of blue they are wearing. If they are a prison officer or if they are a member of An Garda Síochána, the same amount of compensation should be relevant.

Could the Minister say whether she intends to upgrade the Irish Prison Service compensation pathway, as well as the pathway for An Garda Síochána? That information would be gratefully received by the prison officers.

Third, and perhaps the Minister might wish to liaise with her Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Defence, Deputy Coveney, on this, there are members of the Defence Forces who do not have any scheme at all like this. Would this be something the Government would be interested in pursuing or at least researching to see if would it be appropriate? Members of Defence Forces are abroad. They are interacting with rebel agencies, rebel groups, armed criminals and state agencies. Would it be something worth pursuing to take malicious injuries out of the court system and provide a much more streamlined pathway for them?

Before I hand over to Deputy Shanahan, I would like to say I welcome this Bill, I am happy to support it and I look forward to its swift implementation.

See this speech in context