Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have got a sense from the people who have spoken in this House so far that they support what the Minister is doing to reform An Garda Síochána, which is right. Since the Tánaiste took over as Minister for Justice and Equality in 2014, it is clearly and plainly obvious to anybody that she put structures in place to ensure that we will have a fit for purpose, proper, transparent, open and accountable Garda Síochána. The Policing Authority is an exceptionally important element of that reform. People give lip service to the notion of depoliticising An Garda Síochána but that is what the Policing Authority is there to do. The Policing Authority is the most appropriate authority to recommend whether a Garda Commissioner should be removed, not members of the Opposition, backbenchers or members of the public. The Policing Authority is the competent authority with the expertise and oversight that can make a recommendation to the Government that it feels a Garda Commissioner should be removed. People should stand back from this issue for a minute and consider the prospect. On the one hand, people have talked about depoliticising An Garda Síochána and, on the other, people have called for the Garda Commissioner to be removed or sacked. What is the point in having a Policing Authority if we do not let it do its job? Are people saying that the Policing Authority has not done its job?

Let us consider the reforms that have been made. On 8 March, Mr. Michael Donnellan, director general of the Irish Prison Service, attended a meeting of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality. On that occasion he pointed out that there is no overcrowding in the prison services for the first time in years and it is primarily due to legislation on fines. Also, slopping out has been eliminated in prisons because they now have the resources to start a pathway to provide dignity in the prison services. These improvements are due to legislation that we all introduced in these Houses in the past couple of years. It was ridiculous that people went to jail for not paying for a television licence. At least this problem has been addressed.

Do not get me wrong - what has happened in An Garda Síochána is an outrage. Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan is the head of the organisation but there are many more people at senior management level in An Garda Síochána. Many questions remain to be answered. Frankly, it was not good enough for the Garda Commissioner to announce that an internal investigation would take place. The Tánaiste was correct to recommend to Government today that the investigation should be conducted by an external organisation because none of us would have been confident that an internal would achieve transparency, which is what we want.

We have GSOC, the Policing Authority and a raft of legislation to improve An Garda Síochána.We came from a position where the Garda Síochána was one of the worst hit organisations as a result of the recession. The Garda Training College, Templemore, was closed. The ICT facilities throughout the Garda force were not fit for purpose. PULSE had not been updated in years. There was a lack of investment in Garda vehicles. It is easy to see how these situations can develop and how bad practice can develop when there is no investment.

That situation has been rectified during the past three to four years. The college in Templemore has been opened and I do not think a Government will ever close it again. At least I sincerely hope it does not. We will have a professional Garda service.

Members have stood up in this House and the Lower House complaining about the closure of Garda stations that were not being used. I believe it was appropriate to close Garda stations that were not being used and invest that money in properly resourcing the Garda with computers and vehicles, so that the Garda is a modern force. We cannot have Ballymagash type politics, where people ask for their Garda station not to be closed, even though it might be used only three times in a week. At the same time, there is no investment in ICT or Garda vehicles, or upgrading, training and so on.