Dáil debates

Wednesday, 27 January 2016

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Garda Inspectorate Reports

9:35 am

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the commentary in the Garda Síochána Inspectorate's report, Changing Policing in Ireland, that there has been a repeated failure by An Garda Síochána to implement recommendations for change from its previous reports and from other reviews and inquiries; the actions she is taking to ensure the recommendations in the Changing Policing in Ireland report and previous Garda Síochána Inspectorate reports will be implemented. [3053/16]

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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My question pertains to the Garda Inspectorate report, Changing Policing in Ireland. It seeks to get a sense from the Minister as to how she intends to implement the recommendations considering the highly worrying commentary by the Garda Inspectorate that many recommendations it has put forward in previous reports and from other investigations and inquiries simply have not been implemented. It seeks to establish what is the Minister's plan this time to make sure the recommendations from this and previous reports are implemented.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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In the first instance, as the Deputy has asked, I will put on record some information regarding previous reports. To date, there have been 11 reports and as Members are aware, the job of the Garda Inspectorate is to promote efficiency and effectiveness within An Garda Síochána, which is an objective shared by all Members. The inspectorate undertakes comprehensive analysis of policies and procedures in the Garda Síochána and benchmarks them against the best practices and standards of comparable police services. The most recent of the aforementioned 11 reports were the 2014 reports on crime investigation and the 2015 report. Members have discussed the 2014 reports in this Chamber a number of times. The most recent report was published on 9 December and is under active consideration.

As for the first nine reports, I have asked for detailed information and am advised by the Commissioner that of the 280 recommendations, which is a lot of recommendations, 204 have been implemented and a further 73 have been accepted with a view to implementation. Obviously, work is ongoing in respect of the crime investigation report and quite a number of changes have already been made. I will recap some changes that were recommended in those reports because it is important not to lose sight of initiatives and changes that have already happened in response to the report, although there is more work to do. In this regard, I note the establishment of a victim support office in every local Garda division and there is further work to do on developing this victim support service. In addition, a review of crime counting rules by the Central Statistics Office has been discussed in this Chamber and will have far-reaching implications for the accuracy and reliability of the compilation of statistics. Moreover, a data quality team has been established in An Garda Síochána. As has been discussed in this House, there has been significant reorganisation of Garda units with regard to various criminal activities. A criminal justice steering group now has been established to provide greater co-ordination between all bodies in the criminal justice system. In this context, I note a highly successful conference was held in Croke Park just one week ago between all the justice agencies, which again followed through on the recommendation on the need for greater co-ordination and exchange of information between the various criminal justice areas.

Photo of Michael KittMichael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Thank you. I will come back to the Minister.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I also refer to the working group on information and communications technology, ICT, which was an absolutely critical part of the aforementioned crime investigation report. Initiatives already have taken place in order that, for example, investigations now are recorded on the PULSE system, which was not the case previously. These initiatives and actions have been taken to implement some of the major recommendations. However, I note these are comprehensive reports with huge numbers of recommendations and obviously, the process is ongoing.

9:45 am

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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This is the Garda Inspectorate's press release on the official launch of the Changing Policing in Ireland report. It states:

A large number of them have not yet been fully implemented and therefore the envisaged outcomes have not been realised. The Inspectorate is of the opinion that many of the policing issues that resulted in inquiries, tribunals and government reports could have been minimised or avoided; if these recommendations had been implemented and some fundamental changes made.

Clearly, it profoundly disagrees with what the Minister has been given. Will the Minister supply the Opposition with a copy of the summary of implementation of recommendations suggested by the Garda Commissioner? We would like to see the recommendations and the actions taken to address them because we are seriously concerned. The Garda Inspectorate appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. It was agreed on an all-party basis that the report was excellent and that we wanted to see it implemented so the Opposition needs to see a detailed report from the Minister outlining the recommendations from all these reports going back ten or 15 years so we can see what actions were taken to implement them. We can then properly assess what is happening here.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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That is a reasonable request and I am happy to respond to it. Many of the Garda Inspectorate's reports have been implemented. I draw the Deputy's attention to what is actually on the inspectorate's website in respect of implementation. When we discuss these reports, it is important to contextualise the recommendations. There is no question that many of them arise from historical underfunding. I know the Deputy is very familiar with the report on crime, including the most recent one. We have sought to rectify the critical ICT infrastructure by providing an additional €205 million. The Deputy can see that many recommendations arise in respect of that critical underfunding, which has so many implications in terms of the deployment of gardaí in local areas and rosters. If we want to use people efficiently, we need a human resources roster online, for example. We have corrected that and due to the funding that has been made available, quite a number of the recommendations will correct some of the very serious issues that have been outlined. Clearly, other changes are also necessary.

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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Without a doubt, one of the key issues is under-investment. This Government has not invested in the past five years. Hopefully, that will change in the next period. There are also massive structural issues in An Garda Síochána. Many of the challenges we face - "challenge" has been a kind word in recent years - are down to mismanagement and our front-line gardaí being failed by a management system that is not delivering for them. This and previous reports from the Garda Inspectorate, particularly the past two reports, are tremendous pieces of work. I do not like the term "police force". I see it as a police service. If the reports were implemented, we would have the police service we deserve. The Garda Inspectorate has earned respect due to the way it has produced these reports in recent years. It is not confrontational. Robert Olson is very diplomatic and reasonable in his tone. When somebody like him and his team say that they are exasperated because their recommendations are not being implemented, we need to listen. I appeal to the Minister to supply the Opposition with a report on what actions have been taken following the recommendations. It would be excellent if she could do this.

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is very reasonable to say that when one has reports, one needs ongoing evaluation and monitoring of them . It is very important and my Department is involved in that. In addition, the new police authority will also have a role in this and we will have public meetings relating to what is happening. It is very clear that in terms of monitoring and evaluating the kind of response to the reports, the police authority will play a key role. It will have its first meeting this week.

As manager of the force, the Garda Commissioner has a particular responsibility, as do people working with her, to ensure management issues are dealt with. Senior gardaí throughout the force also have this responsibility. In that regard, the publication by the Garda Commissioner of her own five-year strategic transformation programme, which will take place shortly, will be an important part of the points made by the Deputy in respect of the ongoing monitoring. Obviously, in that report, she will address the recommendations that have arisen in the various reports, including the most recent report. That will also be a good guide to evaluating how many of the inspectorate's reports have been implemented.