Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

With regard to amendment No. 47, section 63 of the Bill provides for the establishment of a strategic plan for An Garda Síochána by the Garda Commissioner. This amendment simply seeks to provide that the Garda Commissioner, when preparing a strategic plan, would have to have regard to the public interest. The strategic plan is a very important guiding document for policing services in Ireland and it strikes me that the public interest should be given significant consideration in terms of informing its development.

Amendment No. 48 is similar in intent to amendment No. 47 in that it seeks to insert explicit reference to the public interest in respect of the development of an annual service plan for An Garda Síochána by the Commissioner.