Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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215. To ask the Taoiseach if he will provide an update on the work of the policing reform implementation programme office in his Department. [15665/25]

Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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A Policing Service for our Future is the Government’s Plan to implement the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (COPFI).

The implementation of the Plan was overseen by a dedicated Programme Office in the Department of the Taoiseach, and an Implementation Group on Policing Reform, chaired by an independent person.

This work concluded in 2024 thanks to the achievement of many of the major recommendations outlined in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing. These achievements were detailed in the publication of the final report of the Implementation Group.

The Final Report, which can be found on gov.ie, outlines the significant progress including:

· Rollout of the Operating Model for An Garda Síochána, which enables a more visible, responsive and localised policing service to communities nationwide.

· Conclusion of the three pilot Local Community Safety Partnerships in Dublin’s North Inner City, Waterford City and Longford, which has informed the national roll-out of these arrangements.

· Distribution of nearly 15,000 digital communication devices enabling front-line gardai to perform their duties without returning to stations.

· Implementation of new human rights structures, strategies and training across the organisation; and

· Introduction of a three-year Garda Health and Wellbeing Strategy which recognises the stresses a Garda can face and provides assistance to deal with them.

A significant focus of the Implementation Plan was concerned with strengthening the internal capabilities of An Garda Síochána so that the organisation possesses the capacity to drive future reform.

The new Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 Act establishes a Garda Board to help this process and is complemented by external agencies such as the Policing and Community Safety Authority and Fiosrú, the reconstituted Police Ombudsman.

Since the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 was signed by the President on 7 February 2024 intensive work was undertaken in the Department of Justice, with the legislation commenced from 2 April 2025.

This new coherent governance and oversight framework will ensure effective accountability on the part of individuals and An Garda Síochána as a whole and ultimately drive more effective policing.

The Department of Justice will continue to drive this work, with political oversight of justice and security issues more generally continuing through the Cabinet Committee on Justice, Migration and Social Affairs.