Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I am glad Senators have welcomed what the Minister has now proposed. During the course of the debate on Second Stage a number of Senators commented on Chapter 4 in this particular context and on the establishment of joint policing committees. What is allowed for now is a two-tiered structure where local policing committees can be established to deal with any issues at a more fundamental level.

The original provisions sought to marry proposals from the National Crime Council for the establishment of crime committees involving local authorities and the Garda Síochána under the county and city development board model and the more community focused local policing committees but one of the concerns the Minister had about this model, with which he found a good deal of resonance in this House on Second Stage, was the need to involve town councillors in the joint policing committee. As a result, the Minister proposes to make a number of changes in the provisions of sections 30 and 31 and to delete section 33.

The first amendment is to section 30. It is designed to provide for a definition that includes all local authority bodies as defined in the Local Government Act 2001, namely, a county council, a city council and a town council. The existing definition used in the Bill excludes the latter and by restoring the full definition we will enable joint policing committees to be established down to town level, if required. That may not be what is required, however.

An option that would be possible under this legislation would be to divide a county into two areas and marry a town council with its surrounding county electoral area. That would be an appropriate model. To take the example of County Louth, there might be a case for having one area based in Drogheda and one in Dundalk, although County Louth has a mid-Louth electoral area and it too might stake its claim but that type of flexibility is allowed under what the Minister is now proposing.

The Minister proposes also that the democratic character of the joint policing committee be clearly recognised, which is welcome. Those who will have primacy in this matter at local level will be the elected representatives who have a mandate. Whether that mandate stems from the town council or the city or county council, there will be a mandate. In considering an earlier amendment I made the point that a member of the Garda Síochána has considerable discretion and it is important that the citizen has confidence in that discretion and in the force. That confidence is more easily fostered and sustained when the citizen knows that those to whom the force is making itself accountable have a democratic mandate and can be called to account by the electorate for the manner in which they consult with the Garda Síochána. I very much welcome the contribution the Seanad has made on that and indeed the generosity of Senators, many of whom are elected by city and county councillors, but not by town councillors, in recognising the importance of town councillors in this context. Senator Leyden referred to the joint policing committee as being fundamental, and I agree with him on that.

Senator Maurice Hayes asked whether a realignment of Garda boundaries would be required by this legislation. The difficulty with Garda boundaries is that in the case of the larger urban areas they turn very much around the location of individual police stations.