Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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1. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the proposed independent review of An Garda Síochána; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15901/17]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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Obviously, it has been quite an eventful week for justice and An Garda Síochána. Will the Tánaiste give an indication to the House of the status of the proposed independent review of An Garda Síochána which the Government announced earlier this week, and will she make a statement on the issue?

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that the Government had agreed to engage the services of an independent international expert with a background in policing to carry out a review into issues of culture and ethos in An Garda Síochána, and considerable work had been done to progress the review. The three oversight bodies, the Policing Authority, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and the Garda Inspectorate, had been consulted and my Department was in the process of preparing a proposal for consideration by the Government setting out the work to be done by the expert.

However, as the Deputy will be aware, the Government decided yesterday that a more fundamental review of An Garda Síochána - really, a fundamental review of policing in Ireland - may now be required. I will bring initial proposals to Government next week. In this regard, we will have to consider whether the review of the culture and ethos of An Garda Síochána should be undertaken as a discrete piece of work, as originally intended or whether it should be part of any wider review. My view is that it should be part of the wider review. The culture and ethos of An Garda Síochána are very much part and parcel of the whole and should be dealt with as such. The Garda Inspectorate's report, Changing Policing in Ireland, devotes a chapter to the culture of An Garda Síochána. As a result of the report, the Commissioner was in the process of arranging for the conduct of a cultural audit which was being overseen by the Policing Authority. The Deputy will be familiar with this. This work must all be done together now.

I have seen the Deputy's motion regarding an independent review of certain aspects of Garda recruitment and training and I would like to discuss these ideas with him further. It would be better to have an agreed approach to the issue across the House. I would like to see the greatest consensus possible because it is in all our interests and in the interest of the future of An Garda Síochána that we make very sure the terms of reference capture everything that needs to be done at this point and take account of the very important work of the Policing Authority and the bodies already in place. The review should build on their work, and I will consult them closely. As I said, the next discussion on the matter will be in Cabinet, but I hope to consult colleagues across the House next week and the following week.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Tánaiste for her reply. I agree that it would be appropriate, if there will be mid to long-term changes in An Garda Síochána, that we as Members of the Oireachtas try to get some form of agreed approach in respect of the review. Nonetheless, there are issues which remain arising from the two controversies highlighted by An Garda Síochána this day last week for the first time when they came into the public domain. It is important we try to get to the bottom of these issues. I am concerned that we may not have fully got to the bottom of them yet. The Garda Commissioner came before the Committee on Justice and Equality this morning and she and her colleagues gave a number of pieces of information to the committee. I am concerned, however, about the information given about the southern audit, the national audit and the general publication of information about the breath test data last week. I am concerned that there may have been an intention on the part of An Garda Síochána that this information would not enter the public domain. In fact, it only entered the public domain as a result of an article published in The Irish Timeson 20 February 2017, which prompted Garda activity. I do not know whether the Tánaiste has anything to say in respect of that.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy and other members of the justice committee had the opportunity this morning for a very detailed discussion with members of An Garda Síochána, which I watched. I saw that the Commissioner said she would provide further information, and I am sure that further information will be provided. I think she also addressed a point, which I think the Deputy is also raising, about timely information being given to all the bodies she named. There are four or five involved. This is about timely, transparent information. The role of the Policing Authority will be critical in this regard because there were some discussions in that body about these issues.

The Garda, in the meantime, is getting on with the audit, which is not yet completed in respect of one of the issues. As I told the House, I had expected it in June, in the second quarter of this year, and the information was put out by An Garda Síochána as it explained this morning. I think the Garda wanted the information to be in the public arena but I also think in retrospect - of course, things are always clearer in retrospect - there was a place for the information to be shared more fully all along the way. That is a lesson the Commissioner has learned, as she said.

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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I wish to indicate to the Tánaiste the basis for my concern about the timelines. In the statement on the timelines provided by senior management of An Garda Síochána, they outlined that it was on 24 February 2017 that a sample of data was received from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. I asked the witnesses before the Committee on Justice and Equality today when they sought this information from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety and was informed that they did so days in advance of 24 February 2017. In light of the fact the Garda did not seek information from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety for the southern audit and had not sought it for the national audit until that stage, even though the Garda was able to change its IT system on foot of the indications from that national audit, I am concerned that the contact with the Medical Bureau of Road Safety in February 2017 was prompted by an article in a newspaper. Taking into account that the Policing Authority was not told about this and, as I believe, the Tánaiste was not told about it, there may be some legitimacy to my concern.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I will take up the point about the role of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety because it is a very important one. I met Professor Cusack earlier this week, I think, at the transport meeting and had a detailed discussion with him about the data the bureau has. It seems to me that there needs to be far greater co-operation - "contact" is probably the right word - and exchange of information between the two bodies. I think the new machines now being introduced with global positioning system, GPS, functionality and greater detail and the other new systems that have been put in place will make a difference.

I have no doubt that the Deputy will pursue the matter of the delay further and that more information will become available, but my understanding as to the reason for the delay is that the Garda was gathering a vast amount of written, paper-based material from 108 districts, which was very difficult to gather. This is what Assistant Commissioner Finn told me last Monday, and it was repeated this morning. It was when the Garda had finally gathered this material that it was then in a position to compare it with that of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. I take the Deputy's point that if the Garda had had access to the database earlier or had started the comparisons earlier, perhaps this would have given a more comprehensive picture. He is probably right about that, but my assumption at this point, based on the information I have, is that the Garda was waiting to gather as much material as it could from the paper-based trail in respect of which it was operating.