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

The role of the inspectorate is to benchmark overall policing performance of the gardaí. It is not just the work they do in the community and how they engage with people, but it is also about looking at the structure to see where there is need for improvement and to make sure the core operations and how they carry out their work are improved. As I mentioned earlier, I just came from an event where the Garda Commissioner said that, over the last 100 years, gardaí have not always got it right. They have made mistakes and even apologised for mistakes made. It is about what the gardaí do when they are made aware of those mistakes. There are 34 recommendations, with 30 being for the gardaí, and before we have even made an implementation plan, they have moved to make those changes and acknowledged that the changes are needed.

The Garda Commissioner established the anti-corruption unit in 2020. The unit has a national remit to prevent, detect and investigate corruption and criminality committed, or suspected of being committed, by gardaí or Garda staff. A deputy commissioner was appointed who is responsible for strategy, governance and performance as senior police leader with responsibility for counter-corruption in An Garda Síochána. Several anti-corruption policies were developed and published. The Deputy might be aware that I brought forward the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act 2022. This contains provisions to support the introduction of regulations in relation to substance misuse testing. Many things have been done to date.

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