Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move:

That following the publication of the first and second Morris tribunal reports that Seanad Éireann calls on the Government as a matter of urgency to initiate steps to provide for:

—an independent policing commission to identify the structures needed to ensure accountability and independent scrutiny of the Garda Síochána as well as partnership with the community;

—an independent policing authority;

—an independent, one-person Garda ombudsman; and

—the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the MorrisTribunal reports."

While I am glad the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, is in the House, I am sorry the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not present because he has been very stubborn on an issue which is fundamental to policing and the Garda Síochána Bill.

As he and the Minister of State will be aware, Deputy Rabbitte, the leader of the Labour Party, put forward a proposal that the Minister would set up a commission to review the issue of policing in the State. It would be similar to the review carried out in Northern Ireland under the Patten commission, which took approximately 12 months to carry out its work. However, because of the work already done in this regard, we propose that a similar commission could carry out its work in six or nine months. Northern Ireland is not the only place to have had that type of commission. For example, a royal commission on the New South Wales police force came up with recommendations for reform of that force.

The public is disillusioned with the Garda Síochána. The majority of gardaí are good people but there is a crisis in confidence in the overall structure of the Garda Síochána. The public mood was moving in that direction but it has been brought to a head due to the latest findings and recommendations of the Morris tribunal. If we are to bring about reforms in our policing structure, it would be best to have an independent policing commission to consider all options, consult widely, including with the Garda Síochána and other interested parties, hold public meetings, for example, as was done in local town halls in the North, and then come up with a report. That would bring people on board and give them ownership of any new structure we would come up with.

As the Minister of State will know, Labour Party policy proposes there would be an independent policing authority. We believe a good example of this type of authority is the independent Northern Ireland Policing Board. However, there are many examples of policing authorities throughout the world. Any one would serve as a good starting point.

This policy is not new for the Labour Party, which came up with the proposal five years ago. We considered the Patten commission and its proposals, as well as considering policing policy and best practice throughout the world. Given that, we still favour a policing commission to review this area before any decision is made. The Labour Party policy is that the proposed policing authority would draw up a four year strategy to set objectives and priorities, provide indicators assessing the effectiveness of the police force, outline budgetary requirements and so on.

A policing authority would draw up a four-year strategy which would do the following: set out objectives and priorities; provide indicators for assessing the effectiveness of the police force; outline budgetary performance; be responsible for adopting an annual policing plan; and present the annual Garda budget for negotiation with the Minister. The Commissioner would still have full operational responsibility for the force, as is the case in Northern Ireland.

The Labour Party has outlined many other proposals in respect of the Garda authority's responsibilities. However, most importantly, it should be independent. The Northern Ireland model is very good because it includes political representation. The Minister has ridiculed the idea of having public representatives included on a policing authority, but he is wrong. If we want a truly open and accountable authority then it must involve publicly-elected representatives. Mr. Denis Bradley, the vice chairman of the police authority in Northern Ireland, recently spoke to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. He felt that without a policing authority we are not doing what is fundamentally required to reform our police force, which is something I have stated on many occasions in this House and which the Labour Party has been pushing. Mr. Bradley said he would not start from here if the aim is to go where he thinks we should be going. He made a number of important points and lamented the absence of a police authority acting between the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the appointment of the Commissioner and senior Garda officers. He pointed out that the Conroy report of 1968 made such a recommendation and also the importance of having a political yet independent group of people acting together to make senior appointments in order to maintain a distance between Government and the police.

The Morris tribunal has identified problems with the Garda Síochána which only an independent police authority can take on board and tackle in an open and accountable manner. From the tribunal's point of view, the Garda Síochána is very inward looking and homogenous. Mr. Bradley also referred to this, in particular to the tendency for a terrible centralism, where power is centralised, hierarchal and mostly male.

Professor Dermot Walsh was recently interviewed on "News at One" and he spoke about the same situation. He said that we need an independent policing authority if we really want to do something about the culture which has given rise to the type of issues raised by the Morris tribunal. We must be much more radical in terms of recruitment and have more diversity within the force. He suggested that recruits should study alongside other third level students, as opposed to being locked away in their own group for the rest of their career. The police force should second more officers from other police forces and use their expertise.

Our other recommendation has been raised in a controversial manner in recent days. Senator Maurice Hayes was appointed by the Minister to oversee Garda reform. He is an expert on policing reform because of his work in the North. He has said that there should be an independent one-person Garda ombudsman with its own independent staff. Deputy Rabbitte and the Labour Party feel that this has also been indicated by the Morris tribunal in a statement regarding the role of the Oireachtas in terms of implementing the recommendations of the Morris tribunal. Mr. Justice Morris stated that:

The Tribunal was very much concerned by the lack of any independent body to receive legitimate concerns about Garda behaviour. The provisions of the Garda Bill need to be reviewed by the Oireachtas, so as to satisfy the legitimate disquiet that arises from the Tribunal's study of the documents in this case. . . Whatever measures are put in place must ensure that there is, indeed, a body to whom people with legitimate concerns are able to turn to.

I have argued this point with the Minister in this House on many occasions and pushed the Labour Party line that there should be an independent Garda authority and one-person ombudsman. The Minister has argued that we simply want to copy Northern Ireland, that it is unique and the Republic of Ireland is different. I wanted to rebut that and have spent the past few days studying what has been done in other countries. Northern Ireland is not unique. It has possibly learned from the mistakes of other jurisdictions throughout the world and successfully followed on from what they have done. What Northern Ireland has achieved in terms of the Patten commission and the independent policing board is more the norm than the exception. It is the Republic of Ireland and the Minister, Deputy McDowell, who are lagging behind and being pulled, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century.

New South Wales had a similar commission to the Patten commission. This was in response to a collapse in public faith in the police force and allegations of corruption. The terms of reference of the Patten commission stated that Northern Ireland is supposed to be moving into an open and peaceful society and it is therefore appropriate that this body be in place. That is why Northern Ireland has an independent policing board and ombudsman. The Minister's logic would say that it should have had such bodies when it was in a crisis state and there was no ceasefire.

We must also examine the idea of these bodies being cross-community. One of the criticisms of the Garda Síochána is that it is too homogenous and inward looking. We need more diversity, women and people from different backgrounds in the police force and we must take in people from other forces throughout the world. We must also include people who have worked in other careers so they can bring their experience to bear.

Much of the Northern Ireland policing legislation goes beyond what is done in other countries. The police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, accepts complaints by telephone whereas they must be made in writing in other jurisdictions. The ombudsman is very accessible, and we have seen this——