Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will get to you in a moment, Sir Humphrey. The reality is that everybody worked together on this. To be honest, we were disappointed and would have liked a different result. We also understand the rationale behind the decision and why, although the Minister has ceded some ground, she stuck by her faith in the community safety partnerships. My colleagues would want me to say that possibly every one of them interacted with the Minister on this issue on one level or another.

Unfortunately, I was listening to Senator Boyhan, or Sir Humphrey as I called him, as he stopped just short of saying how brave the Minister was in his repeating the things that are on the record, repeating that she was not going to accept amendments and then suggesting somehow that that is undemocratic when, in actual fact, it is exactly the way the system works. God knows, the Senator has been here long enough to know that is the case.

What I am hearing from this debate is that people are very pleased with the manner in which the Minister has engaged with every side in this debate. That is not an easy thing to do. As the justice spokesperson for Fine Gael, I know this Minister is better than most as regards accepting amendments. Credit where it is due. This is an issue on which people do not necessarily agree. We can grandstand and of course we all have electorates to look after. That is also important. It is part of political communication. I do not deny anyone that, but let us be clear that we have arrived at a solution that is a halfway point, in many respects, between the two positions. Most important, it will allow local authority members to be the chairs of community safety partnerships. I was the first chair of the joint policing committee in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown when it was established in 2014, after the Local Government Reform Act was passed. I was the first chair of the committee and I am still a member of it. They provide valuable opportunities for elected members and members of the community to interact with gardaí at an organised level, rather than just ranting or arriving down at the station and having a go at the member in charge who happens to be there. In terms of the formal opportunity for the community, be it elected representatives or members of community groups, to put down questions, seek answers and engage with gardaí in a way where the gardaí are answerable to them, policing committees are extremely positive. I welcome the provisions on community partnerships.