Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The second group of amendments consists of amendments Nos. 4, 7, 8, 26 to 31 inclusive, 125 and 128.

There was a lengthy discussion in this House and on Committee Stage in the Dáil on the provisions in the Bill dealing with what were originally termed "volunteer members" of the Garda Síochána. During the course of the latter debate I undertook to consider further some of the points raised and strongly pressed by some Deputies, particularly Deputies Jim O'Keeffe and Costello.

These amendments arose from my consideration of those issues and were introduced on Report Stage. We changed the name from "volunteer members" to "reserve members" because some people said they might have to be paid gratuities, expenses or allowances to carry out their functions. The term "volunteer" suggested they would never receive recompense for anything they did. That was a reasonable change.

The point was made that I was casting matters too rigidly in saying that the reservists would have all the powers of a member of the Garda Síochána in every circumstance, no matter what it was. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe argued strenuously that this should be qualified in some way and that there be a means to reduce powers for reservists in certain circumstances or to declare certain matters off-limits to them.

At the time I said I had not come across any power or function likely to be given to a volunteer member, as the term then was, which it would be inappropriate for him or her to carry out. That decision should perhaps be left to the judgment of the Garda Commissioner, in light of the range of duties that could be assigned to reservists.

Therefore, I proposed the insertion of a new subsection (5) to allow the Commissioner determine the range of powers to be exercised and to tailor them to duties to be carried out by reserve members whose primary function is to assist gardaí in exercising their duty in particular situations. That change was made in response to an Opposition objection and proposal.

I had originally provided in the Bill that a 12-month moratorium should occur between the Bill being brought into effect and the possibility of a reserve being created but Deputy Jim O'Keeffe argued that proposal was surplus to requirements. He thought if the reserve force was a good idea we should not postpone it in that way.

The implementation of this Bill will be quite complex and I do not see why, if we are establishing a reserve, we should back load and defer it to another day. The amendment removes the 12-month wait. This is not perceived in any way as a substitute for the Government's commitment to increase the strength of the Garda Síochána to 14,000. That will happen by 2007. I want to make it clear that the 12-month moratorium is being removed at the request of an Opposition spokesman, not at mine.

Amendment No. 27 is a drafting amendment which reflects a drafting convention preferred by the Parliamentary Counsel that a person "performs" rather than "exercises" a function.