Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the remarks of Senator Mark Daly. There is a good process here in terms of engaging with the establishment of the priorities. I note that section 61 provides that the priorities will be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. Is there an opportunity for us to engage with those priorities or is that simply just to let us know what they are? That might be an opportunity for Members here to bring forward issues that are happening in their communities and views they may have on what those priorities should be. The copy of that will then be put on the website of the authority, which is a good thing. It is very transparent and the public will be happy to see that. The work of the authority will be to engage with the public as well. Perhaps having some sort of opportunity to engage with that would be welcome. Could the Minister outline the interaction with the Oireachtas, how setting those priorities works under this legislation and how that might happen?

I note what she said about how it is a matter for the authority in terms of who it engages with. That is leaving it quite open. The question I posed was that if there was an objection to a person or organisation that was being engaged with, is there an opportunity to have any engagement on that aspect or put forward formally an objection to that? Is it simply that once a decision has been made, it is final, and there is no opportunity for elected Members or the public to have a say on it? Again, it is because the authority will be doing such important work.

The nature of policing is changing. That has been acknowledged. If we are to have oversight over policing and how it is done, there has been an acceptance, particularly following what happened in Dublin a few weeks ago, that we had a particular way of policing but now there seems to be an appetite to maybe change the way we police and have a different approach to it. The Minister will know from comments in this Chamber that there is much concern around how we might change how we do policing in this country. We have a human rights-based policing organisation. An Garda Síochána is human rights-based. It is policed with the consent of the community. It is not heavy-handed. There may be suggestions that at times maybe it was in the past, but it is a very polite way of policing, if I can put it that way. If that were to ever change, conversations around the priorities here would be important. I would welcome the Minister's comments regarding whether there is scope maybe to expand who the authority engages with and what the role for Oireachtas Members is in terms of engaging on this when it is set down. Is it simply laying it before the House to be noted or will there be an opportunity for a debate on this?Now more than ever, there is more of a focus on how we do policing in the country, what the policy is and how we are going to react to different circumstances.

Many in the House have said that what we saw on the streets of Dublin a few weeks ago was not expected or foreseen. Nobody expected that level of violence on the day. There was some suggestion that people could have predicted what would happen. I do not think that is fair. It was right to say that we did not foresee that level of a reaction or violence on our streets. We have never had anything like it before. That is why this type of issue - the setting of priorities and how we police - has more of a focus on it now than there ever was before. The public has more of an interest in that.

Concerns have been expressed in the House about what direction the country might be moving in. When I say that, I do not mean to say that we should not progress, change and adapt - of course we should. As long as it is not change for the sake of change and we are adapting in the right way to meet the needs of our people, whatever type of priorities we set for policing in the country must take into account the changed and changing nature of our society and the demands of the public. The public's demands and expectations have changed as regards how we do policing. It is important to include them in how we set down those priorities, rather than having a pro formaor tick-box exercise.

As I said, I welcome the fact that a copy of the priorities will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and I presume there will be an opportunity to engage on that. The Minister might clarify that. It will also be published for the public to see, which is really important. It is important that the priorities and policies reflect the mood in the country, where people are at and the types of issues they want to be addressed by gardaí and how we do policing in the State.