Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

This has been an interesting debate and I have learnt a lot. I am deeply grateful to all Members for their contributions. It would be impossible to echo even a fraction of the original analyses offered and I hope no Member is offended if I am selective in making my response.

Senator Maurice Hayes referred to his experiences with the Patten report, to the cross-Border aspect of crime and to the possibility of Schengen coming into existence. Others have echoed those sentiments, saying that at least in Northern Ireland someone sat down and analysed what policing is all about. Obviously there is a different situation in some respects from that which exists here, but in other respects policing is policing the world over and we should not think that a cross-community issue in Northern Ireland makes the rest of the Patten report inapplicable.

Senator Tuffy referred to Labour Party policy and she will be glad to hear that Deputy Rabbitte impressed upon me in private conversation the importance of developing a partnership dimension between police and the local community – formal links between the community and local public representatives, not simply through the Minister or occasions like this – in relation to how areas are policed. I intend to do so and to learn from the Patten experience if I can. The republican movement is getting very agitated about district policing partnerships in the North and whether they are trophies in a particular bargaining process unfolding before us. Nonetheless, according to the Patten commission, they are seen as necessary cornerstones of proper community policing which should be in place north and south of the Border.