John Minihan (Progressive Democrats)

I join previous speakers in welcoming the Minister, Deputy McDowell, to the House and thanking him for introducing the Bill here. He has spent a lot of time approaching the Bill in an open and consultative manner, and the fruits of those endeavours are seen in the cross-party support for the initiative he has taken.

Two main objectives of the Bill are to reform the legislative structure through which the Garda is managed and to put in place a mechanism to deal with complaints against gardaí. Both of those objectives have been achieved in the Bill. When we get into the tedium of going through the Committee Stage, we may have minor amendments to make or might get a clearer understanding of the Bill, but no one can disagree that the overall thrust has been achieved.

I will not let this occasion pass without paying tribute to the Garda and the long service it has given to the State. It saddens me that we still have elements within the State who continually undermine the Garda, fail to recognise it and have taken paramilitary action against a primarily unarmed force. The Garda underpins the democracy we all cherish. A democracy must be based on law and order, and there is an onus on all citizens to respect that if they truly cherish the freedom and democracy in which we live. However, I am somewhat concerned that, at times, some people seem to feel it is acceptable for them to have their own, private way of imposing law and order and support their own private armies or security forces. It would be remiss of us not to condemn that out of hand when we are discussing proposed legislation to support the one legitimate security force in the country, the Garda. When I hear about Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas referring to the shooting of a garda as a tragic event, it disappoints me and saddens me that we still have people in our society who are willing to subscribe to such views or give them any hearing. The reality is that the fundamentals of democracy must be enshrined in support of the institutions of the State and any other way of going about that is an affront to democracy.

For any police force, public confidence is necessary. There have been occasions when the actions of a few have undermined public confidence in the Garda somewhat. At times, that effect is somewhat exaggerated. There is no profession in which a few people are not off side, but a whole profession should not be condemned because of the actions of a few.

We seem to be abandoning personal responsibility in this country. We seem to think that numerous matters are the responsibility of the Government, the Garda and various other institutions of State, but what about personal responsibility? If people in Ireland were more aware of personal responsibility and took it on board, we would have no need or requirement for such Garda activity on our streets. Unfortunately, those who are quickest to condemn the Garda are probably those who lack personal responsibility.

I will refer briefly to a couple of sections of the Bill. One is section 14, which provides for a volunteer force. I am passionate about that and I have spoken about it over the past several years. Other Members have got into the mechanics of the section, whereas my understanding is that the Minister is putting that provision on the Statute Book to be enacted at a later date and the mechanics of how that will happen are to be worked out in consultation between the Garda Commissioner and the Government. There is nothing unusual about a volunteer force, and for Members to try to muddy the waters by saying that the introduction of a volunteer force is a cop-out to avoid increasing the strength of the main force is wrong. The roles are complementary and can be to the betterment of policing in Ireland, as has been proven in many other countries throughout Europe and, indeed, further afield.

I will make a few points on how I envisage the volunteer force will work. How many parents sit at home at night worrying about their children being down town, about their social activities and about them coming home? In my youth, parents volunteered to supervise the local disco and tennis club. I know parents who sit at home worrying about their kids coming home and about how safe they are on the streets and coming out of nightclubs, and many of those parents would be willing to contribute in some way to the policing of our streets. This participation could take many forms. A volunteer policeman or policewoman could achieve full powers after a period of time, but it would be possible to have volunteers with different levels of powers — volunteers who have no powers and work in purely administrative capacities; volunteers with limited powers who can work only under the direct supervision of a full member of the Garda; and, finally, volunteers who have full powers.

A volunteer police force would also provide a greater link with the community and should be embraced positively; we should not look for the negative aspects of the proposal. With the change of our society to multiculturalism, there is a need for linguistic skills and for people to interact with people from different cultures. That is an area in which volunteer police with limited powers could be useful and beneficial to the main force.

I will also address sections 30 to 34 on the Garda's interaction with local authorities. That interaction is fundamental, because it underpins community policing. When I was a member of a local authority, we set up a relationship such as the one proposed in the Bill between the Garda and the local authority. I have spoken about that. When gardaí were brought into the local authority to account for the numbers on the beat and various events in the city, they consistently told us there were problems with by-laws, for example. The obvious way to make positive progress is to make statutory provision for a formal relationship between the Garda and the local authorities. However, I would like that relationship to be confined to urban district councils, town commissions, city councils and county councils. I am not sure about including county development boards; I would prefer to keep it at the level of the other local authority organisations that I mentioned. Those organisations could in turn broaden the relationship to take in chambers of commerce, the vintners' associations and, I suggest, even student unions, which could all bring representatives to a joint policing committee and help to improve community policing, trust in the gardaí on the beat and the identification of problems in local areas.

The establishment of the ombudsman commission is necessary, and I welcome it. Other Members have spoken about it, and I will go into the mechanics of the commission on Committee Stage.

I will take up one point that has been made about communications with the media. That is necessary and must be enshrined in legislation. We cannot allow criminal investigations to be undermined because some member of a force who has a limited amount of knowledge chooses for personal gain to get a scoop at the cost of the positive conclusion of an investigation. Senator Brian Hayes called for the provision to be introduced across the board for members of the Defence Forces and other public servants. As a former member of the Defence Forces, I assure Members it is enshrined in the Defence Act that it is an offence to communicate with the media. There is nothing unusual about this requirement because it is how it should be.

I compliment the Minister on his initiative and on the way he brought forward the legislation in such an open manner. He set out his stall when he was appointed Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and no one can deny he has not brought about changes. People who will be critical of the legislation should remember the Minister has achieved in 18 months what has been 80 years in the making. He deserves our congratulations in that regard.