James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

On behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, I am pleased to introduce the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 to the House. The Bill gives effect to a programme for Government commitment and forms part of the wider policing reform programme, A Policing Service for our Future, published by the Government in December 2018 to implement the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. This report was a comprehensive examination of all aspects of policing, including all functions carried out by An Garda Síochána and the totality of the policing oversight arrangements.

This Bill provides a new framework for policing, security and community safety, and, when enacted, will repeal and replace the current legislation, the Garda Síochána Act 2005, in its entirety. The Bill is based on the recommendations of the commission report which itself was informed by extensive consultations across the policing landscape, including with the wider public.

In developing this legislation, my Department also carried out further and extensive consultation with stakeholders, including An Garda Síochána, the policing oversight bodies, the Data Protection Commission and all Departments. The Bill also takes account of the recommendations of the pre-legislative scrutiny report of the Joint Committee on Justice and the submissions of the various contributors to that process, including those bodies I have mentioned previously, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Garda associations, relevant staff associations, unions and others.

The Bill has four main objectives. First of all, it aims to make community safety an all-of-government responsibility. This is based on the view that promoting safer communities through preventing crime and harm, particularly to individuals who are vulnerable or at risk, is a shared responsibility involving the Garda and also requiring other Departments and agencies, such as health and social services, local authorities and the wider community to work together.

It is also linked to the key finding of the commission report that the prevention of harm to individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable or at risk, should be an explicit objective of An Garda Síochána as it reflects the reality of day-to-day policing.

The second objective is to strengthen independent external oversight of An Garda Síochána. The Bill introduces a package of measures to ensure that this oversight framework for policing is coherent, supporting clear and effective accountability, and, ultimately, better policing. The Bill does this through the establishment of a new policing oversight body and a reformed system for the handling and investigation of allegations of Garda wrongdoing.

Third, the Bill strengthens internal governance by establishing a new non-executive board of An Garda Síochána. This is a corporate governance standard across the public and private sectors. The Garda Commissioner will be empowered as the CEO of the organisation, with explicit operational independence, and will exercise functions equivalent to the CEO of many State agencies, including in relation to workforce planning, human resources, industrial relations and finance. The Commissioner will be supported by, and will report to, the board.

The Bill also improves the oversight of national security arrangements in the State. It provides for the establishment of an independent examiner of security legislation. This was a key recommendation of the commission’s report, which recognised that responsibility for the security of the State did not rest solely with An Garda Síochána. The independent examiner of security legislation is modelled to a large extent on similar oversight mechanisms internationally.

I will now turn to the main elements of the Bill itself. Part 1 sets out key definitions of the Bill and the policing principles which underpin the provision of policing services in the State. These include a strengthening of references to the need for An Garda Síochána to protect and vindicate human rights when providing policing services.

Part 2 details the functions of An Garda Síochána, the arrangements for its governance, organisation and personnel, and the relationship with the Minister and Government. The Bill expands the objective of An Garda Síochána to expressly include the prevention of harm to individuals who are vulnerable or at risk. This recognises that much of the work of the Garda on a daily basis, as is the case with other police services and recognised by the commission, is concerned with non-crime-related activity. This includes assisting people with mental health and addiction conditions, people who are homeless, children, the elderly and others who are at risk. I commend the essential service that An Garda Síochána provides to Irish society in this regard, as was seen in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Additionally, and having regard to the commission's emphasis on human rights as the foundation and purpose of policing, the objective of An Garda Síochána has been strengthened to include an explicit reference to both protecting and vindicating human rights.

This Part also establishes a non-executive board of An Garda Síochána. The board will have the dual function to support the Commissioner and the organisation in respect of internal governance while also holding the Commissioner to account for the performance of his or her functions. The board’s functions are to oversee the strategic direction of the organisation, including the development of the capacity and capability and optimum use of resources and ensuring arrangements are in place to comply with An Garda Síochána’s public sector duty under human rights and equality legislation. The board will also oversee arrangements for managing the performance of the Garda Commissioner. However, the board’s role will not extend to operational policing or security matters which remain within the remit and functional independence of the Garda Commissioner.

This Part of the Bill also improves the internal capacity of the Garda to manage itself effectively, deliver reform, increase diversity and improve outcomes for communities. It seeks to empower the Garda Commissioner as the true CEO of the organisation. Under the Bill, the Commissioner will exercise functions equivalent to the CEO of many State agencies, including in relation to workforce planning, human resources, industrial relations and finance. As recommended by the commission report, the Garda Commissioner’s operational independence is made explicit in the Bill.

In line with the normal responsibilities of the CEO of any organisation, the Commissioner will, with the approval of the board, appoint persons to the senior ranks of assistant commissioner and chief superintendent following selection competitions undertaken by the Public Appointments Service. The approval of the board will also be required for the appointment of senior Garda civilian staff.

A central tenet of the commission report was that An Garda Síochána should be seen and treated as one organisation, with a single workforce who share a common loyalty and mission. In support of this vision, the Bill provides for the Garda Commissioner to recruit Garda civilian staff directly into the organisation as public servants. This will promote and foster the idea of a Garda career for all Garda personnel, members and civilian staff alike. All new Garda civilian staff recruited post-enactment of this Bill will be recruited by the Garda Commissioner as public servants in accordance with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004. The Bill provides that there will be no change to the Civil Service status of existing Garda civilian staff until an order is made by the Minister and the making of such an order is subject to engagement with any trade union or staff association concerned and consideration of any representations made by them. The benefits of integrating civilian staff more effectively into the Garda organisation are highlighted throughout the commission report. Those benefits include ensuring that sworn Garda members can be deployed more consistently to front-line policing roles.

Creation of a single workforce will take time, but it is clear that a more integrated workforce structure, leveraging the different skills and perspectives of Garda members and civilian staff, will make an important contribution to the effectiveness of An Garda Síochána in the longer term and contribute to enhancing the capacity of the organisation to deliver better policing outcomes. I stress that the commencement of the legislation will have no automatic effect on the current position of existing civilian staff. As I said, the Bill requires consultations with the recognised trade unions concerned prior to the making of a ministerial order which would have the effect of designating such civilian staff as Garda staff.

I also note that the increased civilianisation of roles that is likely to follow from enactment of the Bill is likely to result in further career and promotional opportunities for such Garda staff.

Part 3 provides for a framework at national and local level to underpin a whole-of-government approach to promoting safer communities through preventing crime and harm. It is built around: a national strategy for improving community safety, to contain a policy framework and programme of actions to support public service bodies, including Departments of State, and communities working together in a co-ordinated manner for that purpose; a designated Cabinet committee to provide high level political oversight; a national community safety steering group to provide senior leadership and direction for the implementation of the national strategy and to foster interagency collaboration; a national office for community safety sitting under the steering group, headed by a director, which will be the operational executive with responsibility for delivering the national strategy objectives and supporting the local community safety partnerships; and local community safety partnerships, replacing the joint policing committees, to develop and implement local community safety plans and respond to the specific needs of the community.

As Deputies may be aware, three local community safety partnerships pilots have been launched. These are in operation in the Dublin north inner city area, the Waterford City and County Council area and Longford. Membership of these partnerships will include local representatives, service providers and community representatives. These will work in partnership, supported by dedicated staff. They will also provide a forum with regard to local policing priorities.

Statutory obligations will also be placed on Departments of State and other public service bodies to co-operate in the delivery of community safety and to have regard to community safety in the conduct of their own functions and formal linkages between the national and local framework and the new policing and community safety authority are also provided for, having regard to the increased emphasis on the role of that body in overseeing An Garda Síochána’s performance in relation to community safety.

Part 4 provides for the establishment of the new policing and community safety authority. The new body will merge the existing broad-ranging oversight functions of the Policing Authority and the inspection function of the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, building on their good work to date. This authority will oversee and assess, in an independent and transparent manner, the performance of An Garda Síochána in relation to policing with the benefit of an in-house inspection function not available to the Policing Authority at present. For this purpose, it will have an expanded remit in respect of overseeing Garda actions to improve community safety, promoting inter-agency collaboration and community engagement. Most importantly, it will continue to have the power to question Garda management in public. This power, in conjunction with its wider information sources, will ensure that it is well equipped to continue the work of the existing authority in providing robust scrutiny of the performance of An Garda Síochána with regard to policing and to drive continuous improvement.

The new authority will be similar to the existing Policing Authority in structure with its own Vote and explicit statutory independence in the performance of its functions. It will consist of nine members, including a chair, each representing particular areas of experience and expertise. Members will be appointed by the Government following a selection process undertaken by the Public Appointments Service. There is a need to ensure that the important oversight expertise and experience accumulated to date is not lost and so the Bill provides that the staff from the existing bodies will transfer to the new body and form its core, assisting in a smoother transition.

Part 5 provides for the reform and reorganisation of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. The body will continue in being, renamed as the office of the police ombudsman. The three-person commission will be replaced with a single ombudsman and deputy model to ensure that the body has a clearly identifiable head for the first time. The officeholders, the police ombudsman and the deputy policy ombudsman, will be appointed by the President on the nomination of Government and following a selection process undertaken by the Public Appointments Service. To further reinforce the independence of the body, provision is made for it to have its own Vote with the Accounting Officer role assigned to a new chief executive officer. This clear delineation of senior roles will assist in identifying the best possible candidates for each role based on the specific skillsets required. This part also sets out the objectives and functions of the police ombudsman, making it a clear objective to ensure that the ombudsman’s functions are performed in a timely, efficient and effective manner and in accordance with fair procedures.

Part 6 provides for the reformed processes and procedures relating to the handling of complaints and the conduct of investigations into allegations of wrongdoing on the part of Garda personnel. As recommended by the commission report, the Bill expands the remit of the police ombudsman to now include the conduct of Garda civilian staff, subject to the making of a ministerial order, as noted earlier, and to include allegations of wrongdoing even in the absence of public complaints. Central to the reforms in this part of the Bill is a move away from the current investigation process which was described in the commission report as unsatisfactory and in need of urgent overhaul. A streamlined and simplified investigation process is introduced, similar to the standard single investigation processes seen in other regulatory type bodies, which will support more timely and effective resolution of complaints, improve the conduct of investigations and safeguard due process for all concerned. The new process will also involve the designation of a list of categories of complaints by the police ombudsman that do not involve criminal offences and which may be suitable for resolution by An Garda Síochána. The Garda Commissioner is required to put in place arrangements for the resolution of such complaints, for example, through provision of information, explanation, assurance or apology to a complainant or provision of guidance or training to the Garda personnel concerned.

Part 7 provides for the establishment of the office of the independent examiner of security legislation. The establishment of this office represents a significant development with regard to the State’s security infrastructure and delivers on a key recommendation of the commission report which recognised that responsibility for national security did not rest solely with An Garda Síochána.

The Bill provides that the position of the independent examiner will be filled by a senior judge. This is consistent with the commission’s report, which recommended that the independent examiner should have a strong legal background and credibility within the legal profession. A senior judge will have the necessary experience and expertise in the balancing of competing rights and it is considered that a member of the Judiciary is ideally placed to embody the Council of Europe Venice principles of independence, objectivity, transparency, and impartiality. Judicial oversight in this role provides guarantees of independence and impartiality. It will also facilitate assignment to the examiner of responsibility for the existing oversight roles carried out by designated judges, who are currently serving High Court judges, relating to the operation of the current statutory frameworks for data retention, interception of communications and surveillance.

The primary function of the independent examiner will be to keep under review the operation and effectiveness of security legislation to ensure such legislation remains necessary and fit for purpose and contains appropriate safeguards for protecting human rights. The independent examiner will also have a general examination function in relation to the delivery of security services. Those State offices and agencies that have a security remit will be obliged to co-operate with the examiner in the performance of his or her duties. The Bill also provides that the independent examiner will review refusals of information to the policing oversight bodies on grounds of the security of the State and where those bodies wish to appeal that decision. Through his or her annual reports to the Taoiseach, which will be laid before the Oireachtas, the independent examiner will help promote public confidence in national security measures and enhance the national security response.

Part 8 contains regulation-making powers relating to the management of An Garda Síochána and other matters while Part 9 addresses a number of miscellaneous matters including a specific provision to enable the necessary, proportionate and lawful sharing of information, including personal data, between An Garda Síochána, the new policing and community safety authority, the police ombudsman and any other prescribed bodies for the purpose of the exercise of their functions. Part 10 contains consequential amendments to a number of other Acts of the Oireachtas which refer to the role or functions of An Garda Síochána or the other policing bodies referred to in this Bill.

In concluding these opening remarks, it is my hope that Deputies are informed as to the totality of the changes contained in the Bill, which will see the policing and security landscape transformed in the coming years, a new governance and oversight framework for policing, the strengthening of oversight of national security arrangements and structures to drive interagency collaboration and community safety. The Minister, Deputy Harris, and I both look forward to the debate on this Bill and I am pleased to commend it to the House.

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