Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will pick up from where I finished the last day. There is no clarity in this legislation as to how oversight and accountability are to be achieved in practice, despite the fact that one of its aims is to simplify accountability structures. Among some of these new bodies, the Bill provides for the establishment of a board. I believe this is a backward step, and not only for the duplication and accountability reasons I have outlined. The board will not be as independent or as transparent as it should be, and it will conduct its activities in private, which is very wrong. Although it is important that internal governance structures are strong, we still need to ensure external, independent input into and oversight of these key matters of governance. Police governance and accountability should be transparent, and agendas and reports should be published.

We know, following numerous scandals, that key oversight and governance functions were moved from the Minister to the Policing Authority to depoliticise policing in Ireland, which is very necessary. However, the legislation looks to move these to a board that will be internal to An Garda Síochána, with a number of powers being returned to the Minister. This is even less independent than before these scandals and it reflects the Government’s intention to repoliticise policing. In my own county of Donegal, in particular, where a number of investigations took place, the only concern of the State and the relevant bodies was to ensure that the perception was that it was in Donegal only and that these things only happened up there, when we knew they were happening across the board throughout country. It was not only Garda management that wanted to do that; the Department of Justice also wanted to make sure of that.

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I believe this is rowing back from that, which is wrong. These things will happen again. That is not in doubt. It is as certain as night follows day that these things will happen again and this legislation strengthens the cover-up that will take place.

Instead of establishing a board, we should look at strengthening the power of the authority, which has actually done a good job of depoliticising policing in this country, and assigning more of a budget to it. The authority should also continue with its role in appointing the Garda Commissioner and deputy Garda Commissioner. The legislation will make these government appointments again, with the authority and board merely consulted, which is a backwards step. The Group of States against Corruption, GRECO, has recommended the independent appointment of the chief of law enforcement agencies as political appointments can be a corruption risk. Imagine that. Imagine political appointments being a corruption risk. That would never happen in Ireland. This is a serious concern of mine. Even if the Minister did appoint someone who is independent, that person would have an inclination, even if subconscious, to please the Minister in his or her work.

It is also problematic that the Minister is the only person who can dismiss the Commissioner and that inquiries into the performance of the Commissioner’s functions will be under the control of the Government. This again feeds into the fact that the Commissioner will then feel the need, either consciously or subconsciously, to please the Minister or risk the possibility of losing his or her job. It could very easily become the case that the Commissioner would see himself or herself as accountable only to the Minister and the Government. We have seen cases even in the recent past where An Garda Síochána informed a Minister of certain actions by a Member of this House. The Minister was then able to use that information to his own ends, which is wrong and should never happen. We should put in place structures to ensure it does not happen rather than facilitating it happening again in the future, which is what we are doing here. We should also be removing these powers and rights from the Minister and the Department of Justice because they undermine policing right across the board in this State.

I again call for these powers to remain with the authority and for the authority’s remit to be expanded. The authority, as the oversight body, has the greatest perspective on how the Commissioner is performing his or her functions. The authority should also continue its role in overseeing the delivery of the service plan, a role it has had since it was established. I note this legislation seeks to bring the form and manner of the service plan back within the control of the Minister.

I also find the Minister’s role in determining whether a particular matter is one of policing and security, as outlined in this legislation, deeply problematic. This distinction should not be politicised and it should not be for the Minister to determine whether a matter is one of policing or security. This demonstrates a further attempt to repoliticise policing and it should be taken out of the legislation as soon as possible.

I am also very disappointed that the Bill retains the power of An Garda Síochána to investigate and conduct prosecutions. This is direct contravention of the recommendation of the commission. Gardaí should no longer prosecute offences. It is a complete waste of resources, particularly when resources are as much of a topical issue as they are at present. Gardaí are not appropriately trained or qualified for this role and forcing gardaí to do additional functions undermines policing as a profession. It also completely blurs roles and the separation of powers to have those who investigate crimes prosecute them as well.

This legislation missed a great opportunity to provide for a trauma-informed approach within policing. A trauma-informed approach would lead to a greater understanding of the needs of those interacting with An Garda Síochána, more effective interventions and greater confidence in policing. The Bill also missed the opportunity to ensure a more diverse Policing Authority. Consideration should be given to broader diversity in the membership of the authority. At the minute, only gender is considered.

It is vitally important that unions are involved in consultation when legislation has the potential to affect their members so I would like to echo Fórsa’s concerns about the definition of Garda personnel and the removal of the separate titles "Garda member" and "Garda staff", which will change staff from civil servants to public servants without any consultation with the union.

Section 9 should include community safety as a function of An Garda Síochána, in line with the commission’s report. I note that, despite the fact that the term "community safety" is used throughout the Bill, including in the Title, there is no definition of "community safety" in the legislation. It is as if it is just something that everybody should understand. This is problematic given that it is such a fundamental concept to so much of this Bill. Will different bodies have to decide for themselves what comes under community safety? What if these bodies have differing opinions? How can they work to this concept when they are potentially working off different definitions? I find it amazing that this has not been thought of and I urge the Government to reconsider this before disputes and complications arise as a result.

The Bill has a lot of good elements but provisions on security and oversight need to be strengthened. There are many examples of the repoliticisation of policing in this legislation and I take this opportunity to voice my strong opposition to this. Politicising policing is not the way forward. That is not the way we should be doing things in this day and age. We should be making sure the Policing Authority is independent, acts independently and has upholding the law and the Irish Constitution at heart rather than upholding the political will of the Government or aiding members of Government who happen to be in control of the authority in their political aspirations. Allowing that would be a retrograde step. This legislation will give the Minister many new powers including, but not limited to, powers related to policing plans, strategic plans and senior appointments. This reflects a backwards step for policing in this country and it is extremely disappointing that many opportunities for significant policing reform have been missed. We will come to regret missing those opportunities in the future if this legislation goes through. We will see a repeat of what happened in Donegal and all around the country and we will have more investigations. That is just wrong and this is an opportunity that is going to be missed.

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