Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I take into account the fact that the Minister may not be in office within the next six months, not for personal reasons, but on foot of the cycle in which ministerial rotation happens in any administration. The future is uncertain and no one knows it. The Minister has been reported as welcoming the recommendations contained in the recently published Olson report. We have raised the report here, as have colleagues from other parties, and it is a shocking indictment of 30 years' of governance in respect of policing matters.For example, the report states that the Garda Síochána has behind technologically for nearly 30 years and that it takes four years for child abuse investigations to be processed because it does not have the necessary technology. Friends and family of mine who are members of the Garda tell me morale in the force is at a very low ebb, primarily due to top-heavy management, as addressed in the Olson report. This heavy-handed management results in questionable promotion practices. The Minister will be more aware of it than I. I am only an ordinary citizen who picks up on these matters. Individual rank and file gardaí who have merit and who in the normal course of events, or in any other occupation, would be promoted are not being promoted. They are not being mentored by senior management, who are ensuring their own futures and feathering their own nests, not financially but in the system, to ensure their continuance in the positions they hold by ensuring the people they recommend for promotion are singing from the same hymn sheet. These are very serious issues which gardaí are telling me about and which have come out in the open through the Olson report. Does the Minister have an opinion on this? In the context of her acceptance of the recommendations of the report, will she take positive action in the short time left?

I hope the Minister continues in her role, given that she is doing a fine job in the most difficult and complex Ministry. She is responsible for range of issues, not least ensuring the personal security of every citizen in the State. It is a heavy burden for anybody to carry, and the Minister is doing it well. I am sure the Minister agrees that the issues raised by the Olson report, and in the context of the amendments and the policing authority, will recur. I hope the Minister will take the opportunity today to indicate her thinking on it. I have not seen the detail of her response, except that she has generally welcomed the report and accepts the recommendations.