Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join the Acting Chairperson in welcoming the students from the UCD Politics and International Relations Society, of which I am an alumnus. It was a great society then and I am sure it is a great society now.

The Minister is extremely welcome to the House for the debate on this long overdue and vitally important legislation. We have a situation in this country whereby people can record members of An Garda Síochána as they are doing their job, while gardaí do not have the right to record others. There is something fundamentally wrong in that. Of course, the rights gardaí have bring with them responsibilities. I have no doubt that An Garda Síochána will use this legislation responsibly. Body-worn cameras are an essential part of modern policing and their use is absolutely necessary. I hope the Bill passes all Stages in the House as quickly as possible in order that it can be signed into law and we can give gardaí another vital weapon to protect them. The Garda is a largely unarmed police force, which creates vulnerabilities in modern society. We should do whatever we can do to provide the latest equipment to protect members of An Garda Síochána.

We have much to do to reduce the volume of paperwork for gardaí and to advance the digitalisation of the force in general. I welcome that these handheld devices are now being made available and will enable gardaí, on the spot, to check information, access PULSE and make a determination on whether to proceed with a particular scenario, as opposed to having to make a delayed response or a judgment call in a situation without having full access to information. That is very welcome and it is something to which the Minister is very committed.

If I may divert slightly, the announcement this week on the establishment of a domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency is extremely important. It will be a huge legacy of the Government, led by the Minister. Again, it should have been established a long time ago, but it took her to make sure it happened. She deserves a lot of commendations on that. The agency should receive the support of us all. Whatever briefing and information we can make available to our constituents when it is up and running, we should do so.

Modern technology must be used to facilitate gardaí giving evidence in court. Every day of the week in almost every courthouse in the country, gardaí are tied up for the entire day waiting to give evidence, which ultimately takes five or ten minutes, even less in some cases and, in other cases, they are not called to give evidence at all. There must be much greater use of video links. When gardaí are required to give evidence, they should be able to dial into court, thereby freeing them up to do the job they want and need to do. The fact we now have many more civilians working in Garda stations is impacting on the level of paperwork for gardaí, but we need to reach a situation in which gardaí are doing an absolute minimal amount of paperwork. Yes, we do not have enough gardaí but when that is achieved, at least the gardaí we have will be out solving crime and doing their job.

It probably is not popular to say it but we need to look at giving more remuneration to gardaí. It is a particular role that is difficult and challenging, like other roles in society. It is clear that it is not as attractive as it used to be from a financial perspective. There probably is a specific case the Minister can make for gardaí to receive higher remuneration for the work they do. Perhaps we need to have that discussion to make the profession attractive and ensure as many as people as possible give due consideration to becoming members of An Garda Síochána.

The Bill is important. It will help in solving crime. When the FRT legislation is brought forward, it will be another component of dealing with crime in this country. I conclude by saying I have full confidence in the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris. He is doing a good job. We are in a situation now in which one of the biggest crime gangs in the world has largely been dismantled, and that process continues. It is not insignificant that this has happened under the leadership of Commissioner Harris.