Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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646. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide details on the level of consultation within her Department and the Future of Policing in Ireland Commission’s members on proposed changes to the terms and conditions of employment for An Garda Síochána staff in uniform at any rank; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38830/22]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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647. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will provide a rationale as proposed within the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2021 to convert all civil servant An Garda Síochána staff to direct AGS employees (public servants) under a chief superintendent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38831/22]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 646 and 647 together.

As the Deputy will be aware the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, which has completed pre-legislative scrutiny, will, when enacted, deliver on the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI). CoFPI engaged in extensive consultations as part of the deliberations that informed its report and recommendations including with Garda members and Garda staff and with their representative bodies.

A central tenet of the CoFPI report is that An Garda Síochána should be a single organisation with a single workforce.

It found that more integrated workforce structures were required to leverage the different skills and perspectives of Garda members and Garda staff and thereby contribute to enhancing the capacity of the organisation to deliver better policing outcomes for communities throughout the country. To support this, CoFPI recommended that Garda staff should be recruited directly to An Garda Síochána, not to the general civil service, and should be treated as valued members of a single Garda workforce with a shared mission.

The Bill will give effect to this recommendation by providing for the Garda Commissioner to recruit and appoint Garda staff in accordance with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointments) Act 2004. The Bill will also address the position of existing Garda staff.

It is important to note that no changes to the status of existing Garda staff will take place solely as a result of the enactment of the proposed legislation. A ministerial order will be required before any designation to change the civil servant status of existing Garda staff may be made.  Under the Bill the Minister is required to engage with any trade union or staff association concerned and consider any representations made by them. The Bill will provide for further reassurances on the terms and conditions of existing Garda staff prior to any agreement being reached with relevant unions or associations. 

Officials from my Department have been in contact with the relevant representative associations to brief them on the legislation, and are available to consult further as required.