Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I join in welcoming the Minister and I thank him on behalf of the House for bringing the Bill through the Seanad and giving us an opportunity to discuss it in detail for the first time. I also welcome the Minister's senior staff from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Generally speaking, the Bill has been widely welcomed. For a change, the Minister is getting positive publicity, even from the red tops, the tabloids, which have been treating him very unfairly. He is a patient man and incidentally has a great constitution, having been in the House since 3.15 p.m. He is doing very well.

I have an important declaration of interest. I am in effect nominated by organisations like the GRA, the Garda Representative Association, the AGS, the Association of Garda Superintendents, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. Those bodies come together with associations like the IBOA and others to make up the nominating body on the Labour panel and it nominated three of us in this House — me, Senator Feeney and Senator Cummins. In this way we have close contact with those organisations. It is our responsibility to keep them informed and briefed on developments in this House. That is a healthy approach which is worth continuing. I do not represent those organisations, but going by discussions with their members generally, they have given a broad welcome to the contents of the Bill.

I compliment the Minister on bringing forward a Bill which ties up all the Acts since 1924. It is amazing, and no doubt the Minister was surprised when he entered the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, that there was no strong legislative backing for the Garda, which one would consider fundamental. It was said to me that the Minister has, with his staff, put together a comprehensive and thoughtful Bill. He is also open to suggestions and considerations. I was surprised that only 15 submissions were made. I found that amazing. It is in a sense a reflection of the broad satisfaction with the Garda Síochána. If that broad satisfaction and respect for the Garda was not there, the Minister would have been inundated with submissions. There were hundreds of submissions when the boundary commission was set up. The Garda organisations alone in this case involved three submissions, leaving only another 12. That is interesting. The Minister was anxious to have such consultation.

I stress again the contribution made by the Garda. I am not in a position to mention all those who have sacrificed their lives since 1924. I recall in my own district, before I became a Member of this House, when Dick Fallon was slain in Dublin. That was a great tragedy for him and his family. He showed great bravery. I was a Deputy when Garda Morley and Garda Byrne were shot at Shannonscross near Loughglynn in 1980. Again, the effect on the families, and the sacrifices those gardaí made in support of the State, should be recognised in this House.

The courage of the men and women of the Garda Síochána continues. Just the other day, two gardaí jumped into the River Liffey to rescue someone and, recently, gardaí from Carrick-on-Shannon were given Scott medals for their bravery. We depend on the Garda for our security. As a public representative coming from an area which contains the Garda headquarters for Roscommon-east Galway, and which has a large contingent of the Garda, I am very fortunate. This strong Garda presence has contributed to the development of Roscommon town and surrounding areas. In my district of Castlecoote there are at least two families with Garda members. This has been very helpful to the community. There is very little crime in that area and that is a tribute to them.

The Minister has allowed for a great deal of consultation on this Bill and is prepared for further consultation on Committee Stage. In my term of office as a Member of the Dáil and as a Minister of State, I think we had perhaps one or two removals of commissioners. There was a famous case in the 1930s when a commissioner was removed, but it has not been the norm. In this regard, the Minister is bringing forward a Bill which lays out exactly the relationship between the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána. This has not been the case heretofore. The relationships has been very vague. The Minister is right to insert the provision whereby the Government can issue a policy directive to the Garda on particular issues and crises that may emerge. That was not the case in the past, where the Minister might have had informal relationships with the commissioner and discussed particular issues. That led to difficulties in the past. The Minister has now made it clear that the relationship will be transparent and that a directive issued by the Minister on behalf of the Government will be sent to the Garda.

In the area of delegation of responsibilities of Accounting Officer to the commissioner, this is possibly a major forward step, but the Minister should retain certain political responsibilities regarding the location and development of the physical buildings, the actual Garda stations, and whether they are to be opened or closed. The Minister, and Ministers in the future, should have some way of assessing or processing any area where the commissioner might decide on closure or cutbacks, such as in small Garda stations which are very important to their areas. It is vital these are maintained in rural districts where they help maintain the rural fabric of life and afford security to people.