Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to thank Senator Humphreys and other Members for tabling this motion and giving me the opportunity to reply to statements by way of clarification. I am very pleased to do this because this is a very serious topic and it is only right I would have the opportunity to reply to the questions raised, which is why I am here.

I am very concerned to ensure that any misunderstanding in regard to Garda overtime and the commitment on the part of the Government to ensure An Garda Síochána is properly resourced is fully clarified. I am due to present a Supplementary Estimate of €44.2 million tomorrow morning for the Garda Vote before the select committee which is intended to address the requirements of the Vote for 2017. I want to be clear. There is absolutely no ban on Garda overtime in the period leading up to Christmas. Any overtime worked during any day in December actually falls due to be paid from the 2018 budget, in any event. There will be gardaí on the streets, and I wish to assure Seanadóirí that gardaí on the streets will be fully paid their basic salary and overtime requirements.

Almost €100 million has been provided for Garda overtime for 2018. I want to reassure people who may have been upset when they heard these reports on the matter. I want to acknowledge that media reports often have a tendency to take on a life of their own. However, the reality is that officials in my Department were in contact with the office of the Garda Commissioner and they have been informed that any misunderstanding that has arisen internally in regard to the availability of the necessary overtime in the period leading up to Christmas has been clarified by the relevant assistant commissioner.

I want to reiterate that Garda management must continue to deliver on the extensive Garda reform programme. I had an opportunity to discuss this in the course of this year's Seanad and I would be happy to come back in the new year and provide Senators with an update on the Garda reform programme. This will ensure there will be maximum benefit from the opportunities presented by that programme which, as I stated earlier, is supported by an unprecedented level of public funding. That programme of reform will be facilitated by the Government's vision of an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021.

I want to assure Senator McDowell that I will certainly take on board his comments regarding the Garda Reserve. This is an issue I have addressed recently in the context of discussions with An Garda Síochána. I believe there is a hugely positive role to be played by members of the Garda Reserve on the basis that visibility is the key to reassurance for the public. I feel we can be doing much more. While Senator McDowell would like to see an ambitious plan of up to 4,000 members of the Garda Reserve, I would be happy to look at that after the planned expansion of the reserve to 2,000 members. I believe it is critical that we use the resource that is the Garda Reserve in order to support visible policing. With this in mind, I remind Members there is currently a strategic review under way regarding the role of the Garda Reserve and what it might do to further augment and support the Garda Síochána. I expect that review to be completed by the end of this year and, again, I would be happy to discuss the matter in the Seanad.

I assure Senator Clifford-Lee there will be sufficient funding available to allow for Garda overtime in the run-up to Christmas. She is right about the necessity to ensure this overtime is fully utilised, having regard to the Christmas season. I have stated that the assistant commissioner has clarified the position internally today. We must acknowledge that the memorandum concerned and referred to by Senators is an internal memorandum. It was designed to inform chief superintendents on the need to manage their budgets. As I have stated, December overtime is paid in January but there should not be any curb, having regard to the internal clarification that was received this evening.

I wish to clarify for Senator Humphreys, who raised the issue in the first instance, that the Government has not been found wanting in the provision of resources to An Garda Síochána. It is incumbent on Garda management to manage effectively and efficiently the resources that have been made available. Senator Conway is right that I do not decide what members of the Garda do overtime in any particular part of the country. If I did, I feel I would be subject to both scrutiny and sanction here in this House. I do not intend to either seek or adopt such a role.

I thank Senators for raising the issue and hope I have provided a measure of clarification. In conjunction with Garda management, we will be keeping all aspects of the Garda budget under close review during the course of 2018.

I will get back to Senator Humphreys. I expect there is something in train along the lines he mentioned. I am happy to speak to him in the next few days about it.