Tom Morrissey (Progressive Democrats)

The Minister has taken the brave step of trying to reform the Garda Síochána. Such change in a force of 12,000 members was never going to be easy. The Garda Síochána is part of our everyday lives so anything we may seek to change regarding it will provoke public debate to which we must be sensitive. The approach now being taken is quite radical. Many Members of this House have served as members of local authorities and the Bill seeks to give a new role to local authorities. As members of local authorities, many of us have telephoned the local Garda station concerning anti-social activity, including gangs loitering and drinking on open spaces in many new housing estates across the Dublin suburbs. We cannot demand that gardaí take certain action, however. It is up to the Garda Síochána as to how they might apprehend people acting in an antisocial manner in such estates. For the first time, this Bill will afford members of local authorities, council officials and gardaí a forum where all will be equal. If they consider that the design of an estate may lead to antisocial activity, gardaí will be able to advise local authorities on redesigning such estates for optimum security. Up to now councils may not have had such advice due to a lack of expertise. Likewise, members of county councils will be able to ask the Garda Síochána what its members are doing in local estates. This is a brave new step and I hope it will be welcomed by local authorities, especially in the run up to the local elections. I also hope the Bill will be debated widely over the next three months and will receive the support it deserves. For many years we have seen the role of local authorities being diminished, for example with regard to waste management, but this is a new role that is being given to local authorities and I welcome it wholeheartedly.

I welcome the abandonment of the existing Garda Complaints Board. Many Senators, including myself, have met young people who made complaints against the Garda Síochána but were less than satisfied with the way in which those complaints were handled by the board. I admire the Garda Síochána and have always stood up for them but there have been occasions on which I have questioned the manner in which such complaints were dealt with. The appointment of three members to the new commission, including a High Court judge, will make that body independent. The investigation of complaints will thus be taken out of the hands of the Garda Síochána. The enactment of the Bill will engender public confidence in the new body.

Any State body needs to be reviewed after a period of 80 years in existence. In recent decades, society has become more urbanised, yet we have had the same system of policing for the past 80 years. Our police force should reflect the type of society we have become. It should be capable of diverting its resources to more urbanised areas.

This might have implications for the wider community but our society has become more urbanised and we must have a police force that reflects this development. The Bill should be welcomed and commended by the House for these reasons alone.