Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. It is always great to see her here. I am conscious of time and do not wish to repeat points made, only to concur with what I perceive to be a warm reception for reform. The force of law and order, An Garda Síochána, should be conscious that reform is being sought with the very best intention.

Lest we forget, an opportunity should not be let go without mentioning the fallen — the members of An Garda Síochána who lost their lives to protect the people of Ireland. There are so many. Their losses have touched every parish in Ireland. Although my family has been happily ensconced in County Kildare for many years, I am a native of Carrickmacross. Garda recruit Gary Sheehan went out in Ballinamore in 1983 to deal with a kidnapping and never came home, as did Private Patrick Kelly, a member of Óglaigh na hÉireann who I understand bled to death. They were representing the people of Ireland. We cannot thank members of the Garda often enough. I know the Minister will agree with me. I am not digressing as it is a fundamental overriding point that the forces of law and order protect us and put themselves in harm's way to keep us safe.

Like the other speakers, I welcome the changes. The Bill would change the structure of An Garda Síochána, primarily by abolishing the Garda districts and reassigning some functions to other members in Garda divisions. The divisional policing model is intended to allow greater specialisation and to free up gardaí from administrative functions. That has to be welcomed. I feel at times that gardaí would love to see a greater presence on the streets because they act as a deterrent. I believe that if we could free them up even more from the administrative role — I am aware that this has started over many years — it would be welcomed.

Each division is to be headed by a superintendent with divisional responsibilities rather than local district responsibilities. In many respects, this is just bringing us up to speed in a more modernised way. In particular, I welcome the increased specialisation that will result from these changes. The Minister has indicated this will improve the investigation of sexual crimes, domestic violence, cybercrime and economic crime. That has to be something that we would all warmly welcome and embrace. We are moving in line with international best practices, with responsibilities based on policy areas rather than geography.In particular we need this specialisation to target the increase in domestic violence that has occurred over the course of the pandemic. The provisional figures for 2021 indicate that gardaí responded to more than 48,000 domestic abuse incidents which represents a 10% increase. Fortunately the number of charges brought has also increased. Will the Minister outline exactly how the divisional system would help us to prosecute more perpetrators of domestic violence?

Naas is losing its divisional headquarters. I understand it is geographically closer to Leinster House than Portlaoise, the new divisional headquarters. As Senator Wall said, there are citizens residing in the county of Kildare, which is two Dáil constituencies. I am not being parochial but the Minister is in the Chamber today. Will she reassure us that there will be no diminution? The representative bodies, the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI, had some criticism of the proposed restructuring. I will be grateful if the Minister will assure us that the restructuring, especially where I live, will have no detrimental impact. As An Garda Síochána does such a good job with the resources available, will the Minister assure us that there will be no unintended consequence whereby it will be less resourced as a result? I hope the opposite will happen and that streamlining of the force will improve efficiencies. People in Kildare will have concerns and are entitled to those reassurances, as Senator Wall has also mentioned.