Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Let us think about it.

The Bill provides for the appointment by the Government of persons to the ranks of deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner and chief superintendent and superintendent. It is valid that the Government may do this and I do not have a difficulty with it. If one reads the Civil Service legislation, one will see that until recently, a civil servant at the lowest level effectively could not be sacked without a Government decision. There is nothing new in this provision, but I would like to see the clause that applies to appointments by the Garda Commissioner inserted so that appointments by Government would be "subject to and in accordance with the regulations". The legislation should require that the Government go through a process and then take a decision. The Minister is indicating that he will take that on board. I compliment the Government and the Minister on the appointment of the Garda Commissioner, who is a superb person for the job, as he is utterly committed and inspires trust and confidence without being in front of the cameras every second day.

Section 35 provides that the Garda Commissioner shall be the Accounting Officer. My recall of the Ministers and Secretaries Act 1924 is that the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform is the overall Accounting Officer and is also the Accounting Officer for the funding of other bodies, including the Garda Síochána. The Minister indicates that this represents a change. In other words, the Garda Commissioner will account for the funding directly to the Minister. That is very helpful and is a cleaner and more controlled process. I welcome the proposal of an audit committee. There is a vagueness — perhaps that is as it should be — about who should be a member of the audit committee. I am not sure whether it needs more discussion. It is crucial that there is an audit committee and Members would feel more secure if they were made more aware of the operations of the audit committees in different Departments.

There are inherent contradictions in section 17 which prohibits membership of a trade union by a member of the Garda Síochána and I have looked at this provision in all sorts of ways. I see Senator Mansergh smiling to himself, thinking, "He would, wouldn't he?" In many European countries, it is not unusual that the police are trade union members, for example, in Denmark and Holland. Section 17(3) states:

A member of the Garda Síochána shall not be or become a member of any trade union or association (other than an association established under this section or section 13 of the Garda Síochána Act 1924)

A garda cannot become a member of an association on the one hand, though he or she can if it is one which accords with the provisions here. The Bill provides that an association must be independent and not associated with any body or person outside the Garda Síochána. My father was a founder member of the initial Garda representative body, the predecessor of the GRA, and I have had a lifelong interest in this.