Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The recommendations contained in the Garda Síochána Inspectorate report, Countering the Threat of Internal Corruption – A review of counter-corruption structures, strategies and processes in the Garda Síochána, are extremely important.

They are positive recommendations which have the potential to greatly strengthen how the threat of corruption is dealt with in An Garda Síochána and to develop a shared understanding of the threat of corruption across the broader criminal justice sector. The Deputy will be aware that this is the first self-initiated inspection conducted by the inspectorate following consultations with a number of key stakeholders, including An Garda Síochána, the Policing Authority and my Department. I clarify for the Deputy that the purpose of the inspection was not to identify or investigate specific incidents of corruption within An Garda Síochána.  Instead, in keeping with the inspectorate’s mission, the purpose was to examine and make recommendations to strengthen the organisation's effectiveness in preventing, detecting and mitigating the threat of internal corruption. The inspection also assessed the structures, strategies and processes in An Garda Síochána, benchmarking them against a range of commonly accepted counter-corruption functions which help to support a modern police service to operate effectively.

The final report, published in March 2021, included 34 recommendations, of which 30 were directed at An Garda Síochána, three at my Department and one at the Department of Transport. I acknowledge it has taken longer for an implementation plan to be brought forward and I would have liked for it to be complete at this stage. There has been extensive engagement between my Department and An Garda Síochána on the development of a specific implementation plan which will address all 34 recommendations. We are at an advanced stage in that process. We have broad agreement on actions to implement each recommendation and it is expected that the plan will be brought to Government and published shortly. It will certainly be done before the summer recess.

The publication of the implementation plan will build on a number of recent initiatives which have made progress in this area. While there are 34 recommendations, much work has been done already and the gardaí have move to implement some recommendations. The Garda Commissioner signed the integrity at work pledge with Transparency International and nominated Transparency International Ireland as the specialist body to provide independent advice to Garda personnel on protected disclosures. I will mention others in a supplementary reply.

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