Vol. 443 No. 8
1 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Justice the number of times section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, has been used by Ministers for Justice to specifically direct the Garda Commissioner to upgrade or downgrade particular Garda stations.
It is not possible to say from the records of the Department of Justice the number of times the powers vested in the Minister for Justice under Section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, were used in the past to direct the Garda Commissioner as to the distribution or stationing of the Garda Síochána throughout the State. Neither is it possible for the Garda authorities to provide this information as their records are not kept in a form which would enable them to do so.
However, the powers of the Minister for Justice under Section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, are the basis for decisions by successive Ministers for Justice in relation to the opening and closing of Garda stations and the redrawing of divisional, district, sub-district or sub-station boundaries.
It is not unknown for the Minister for Justice to receive representations from various quarters, sometimes by way of parliamentary question, to effect changes of this nature.
Will the Minister confirm that this section of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924, has been used on only one occasion to direct a Garda Commissioner to relocate district headquarters within the constituency of a Minister for Justice?
It is not true that this powers has been used only once.
Will the Minister tell the House which is the correct version of events, the one to which she referred in the Dáil on 27 April, in the Seanad on 18 May or in the Dáil on 25 May? On the first two occasions she said that based on her personal knowledge she had directed the Garda Commissioner to relocate the district headquarters from Oughterard, in her constituency, to Salthill, which is also in her constituency, but on 25 May she said she done so on the advice of Garda management.
We must proceed by way of questions, Deputy, rather than statement.
Will the Minister tell the House which version is correct? If it is the latter, why did she choose to accept the advice of some members of Garda management over the head of the Garda Commissioner and why did she choose to direct him in this manner?
The Minister is responsible; officials should not be brought into it.
Both are correct. From my personal knowledge and from the advice available from the local Garda management in the division of Galway west, the Commissioner accepted that changes were needed. He did not accept the change which I felt deserved my support and that of the Commissioner and I went ahead — as I have the power to do under the Act — and directed that that be done. In fairness to the Garda Commissioner, he indicated in advance — because he was told by me in advance what I intended to do — that he would have no difficulty in implementing my decision, whatever it would be.
Why did the Minister seek to imply in the House that she had taken this decision on the advice of Garda management when the most senior member of Garda management, the Garda Commissioner, refused to make this recommendation and refused to carry it out without a written direction from her? Based on the same criteria, if other Members tell her — based on local knowledge in their constituencies — that there should be a change of headquarters in Garda management, will the Minister further interfere and direct the relocation of headquarters? Will she not accept that this is malpractice and that she has used Garda Síochána operational matters for her own barefaced political advantage?
I never sought at any time to hide the fact that the Commissioner and I disagreed in relation to this decision and I think Deputy Mitchell will accept that, in fairness to me. What I have done is not unusual. The powers are there and have been used in the past. It is not correct to say they were used on only one occasion before. There have been many requests to Ministers to implement various changes within the force. Sometimes Commissioners have agreed and sometimes they have not but at the end of the day the Minister has the power. I have not interfered in the day-to-day operational matters of the Garda. The only changes I implemented were those in which the power is vested in the Minister.
