Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Táim an-bhuíoch agus sásta as a bheith anseo inniu chun labhairt faoin ábhar tábhachtach seo. Is é an t-ábhar is tábhachtaí faoi láthair, nó in Éirinn ar aon nós.

I will begin by endorsing the views already expressed by my good colleagues. I associate myself with their remarks. I acknowledge the very proud history of the Garda. For the past 100 years, its members have watched over the country through times of war and peace, boom and bust and thick and thin. By and large, they have served the country very well. One only needs to look at the roll of honour and see the number of gardaí who have been killed in the line of duty and the number of recipients of the Walter Scott Medal for Valour to know why the vast majority of right-minded Irish people accept and support the Garda. That said, the Government and the entire Parliament need to be more supportive of our force.

I will make a few comments that the Minister might be willing to take on board. I echo the sentiments of Deputy Lowry in relation to retention and recruitment. I would always put retention before recruitment because retention is more important. The age limit at which people can join the force is too low. We can go above 35 years of age. The age of mandatory retirement is also too low. We can go above 60 years of age. I would be interested to know what the international comparisons are for other police forces across the world. We could do something with that perspective.

On remuneration, pay restoration is an accepted principle and we have almost achieved restoration from the time of the financial crash. However, we can go further. We should also be considering pension restoration, particularly for front-line uniformed service. The Minister might engage with her Cabinet colleagues on that point, particularly with the budget next week.

There should be 1,500 gardaí in the Garda Reserve but there are only 300. We are led to believe that a recruitment drive will be happening soon and we are supportive of that principle. With the help of the Garda Reserve, rural Garda stations could be open more often to provide the reassuring and visible presence that is so important from a policing perspective.

We must also consider psychological and counselling supports. We know that our gardaí face harrowing scenes every day of the week, from road traffic accidents to house fires to people self-harming or worse. I am not convinced that we have the appropriate support mechanisms in place for our gardaí. Perhaps the Minister will reassure the House that those supports are in place.

PSNI officers coming into the Garda has been a small bone of contention. It is not the principle that is at issue but the fact that it all appears to be one-way traffic. Approximately four or five senior PSNI officers are now in the Garda but I do not know of any member of the Garda who is serving at a high level in the PSNI. Perhaps the Minister might encourage two-way traffic from that point of view. Parity is important. If we are looking towards reunification of the island and perhaps an amalgamation of the two police forces, we should be looking at the early stages of that as soon as possible.

There is also a bone of contention around the suspension policy of the Garda. We completely accept that the Garda should have operational independence and as much autonomy as possible. However, there is something wrong when over 100 members of the Garda are currently suspended pending review. We have no problem with suspension in principle but if someone has to be suspended, the investigation should be swift and the member in question reinstated as soon as possible. Cases such as the one in Limerick where up to five gardaí have been suspended for three years at this stage should never happen.

We are grateful for the service and sacrifices of the Garda over the past 100 years. It is important that this Parliament provide the support necessary for the Garda to look after us for the next 100 years.

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