John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister for Justice and Equality is unavoidably detained elsewhere, I have been asked by him to respond to this issue. I thank the Senator for raising this important matter.

As the Senator will be aware, the Garda Reserve was established to enhance the links between the Garda Síochána and local communities through the deployment of locally recruited volunteers who operate in support of full-time colleagues. There are currently 1,164 attested reserve gardaí, with a further 99 at various stages of training. Garda Reserve members make a real and tangible contribution to policing right across the country and the Minister is fully supportive of its continued development. In this regard, recruitment to the reserve and training of new reserve members is ongoing.

Under section 15(5) of the Garda Síochána Act, the range of powers and duties of members of the Garda Reserve is a matter for the Garda Commissioner to determine. The Garda Commissioner initially determined that the duties of a Garda Reserve member shall include the following: station duty, other than the care and custody of prisoners; assistant to the station orderly; communications room duty, to include monitoring of closed circuit television, CCTV; foot patrol, accompanied by a member of the full-time Garda service; static security duty; road traffic checkpoint duties, accompanied by a full-time member; duty at the outer cordon of major events such as festivals and major sporting events; assisting in the event of accidents, fires and major emergencies; giving evidence in court; and community and neighbourhood policing.

The Garda Commissioner carried out an internal review of the reserve and has since decided to extend the powers and functions of Garda Reserve members to such areas as domestic violence, child protection, conflict resolution, Garda policy on bullying and harassment, out-of-vehicle safety training, OVST, first aid and Ampel Probe training. Continuous professional development courses are also to be provided annually to Garda Reserve on a divisional basis. Training in these new areas commenced in 2012 and almost all of the reserve members have now been trained in the new powers.

The following provisions were also introduced: a mentor-tutor Garda for the Garda Reserve; a formal appraisal system; the issuing of TETRA radios to all Garda Reserve members when going on duty; powers under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Acts 1994 to 2011, and under section 41 of the Road Traffic Act 1961, as amended, in relation to the seizure of vehicles; the ability to issue fixed charged penalty notices and serve summonses; communication of the Garda Reserve role and various functions to full-time members through media such as promotion courses, the continuous professional development programme and the Garda portal; and the carrying out of exit interviews.

It is not intended to further extend the powers of members of the Garda Reserve at this time. It must be borne in mind that the reserves are a part-time element of the force and, while they are a great asset to the Garda, they cannot be expected to perform the same duties as fully-trained members.

Garda Reserve members, like any members of An Garda Síochána, interact and engage with communities and provide crime-prevention advice. The document An Garda Síochána Older People Strategy advocates the following actions: the development and maintenance of effective communication links between An Garda Síochána and older people; the delivery of a timely and effective proactive response by An Garda Síochána for older people; actions to increase trust and confidence by lessening the fear of crime among older people; and indicators to determine and respond to the needs and expectations of older people on an ongoing basis.

These actions are achieved through various community policing initiatives and crime prevention programmes. Community policing is the underpinning philosophy and ethos through which the Garda Síochána delivers its service to the community. All gardaí, including reserve gardaí, are responsible for delivering a community policing service and delivering Garda functions outlined under section 7(1) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. In conclusion, I assure the Senator that the Government is and will continue to be fully committed to the Garda Reserve, and recruitment is ongoing to further strengthen and reinforce the reserve.