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Police Co-operation.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 February 2008

Wednesday, 13 February 2008

Questions (286, 287, 288, 289)

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

381 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, further to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 31 January 2008 in relation to protocols, if he will make a statement listing and describing the agreements governing co-operation between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5383/08]

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Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

382 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will make a statement detailing the accountability mechanisms in place to govern the actions of the seconded police officers referred to by him in his answer to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 31 January 2008 and in particular if the Garda Ombudsman Commission has jurisdiction to hear complaints from members of the public in the 26 counties regarding the seconded members of the PSNI operating here and vice versa. [5384/08]

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Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

383 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if the exchange of personnel between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána tends to be geographically-based or specialty-based or both. [5385/08]

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Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Question:

384 Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the date on which the protocols referred to by him in his answer to Parliamentary Question No. 231 of 31 January 2008 took effect; and the number of Garda officers and PSNI officers who have been seconded on foot of each protocol since that date. [5386/08]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 381 to 384, inclusive, together.

An Garda Síochána has a close and ongoing working relationship with the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) which operates on a number of levels including: (1) Mutual Assistance; (2) Police to Police basis; (3) Memoranda of Understanding / Protocols and Agreements and also through legislation where there is a North / South context. There are well-established liaison mechanisms in place between An Garda Síochána and the PSNI to counter the threat from terrorism and develop counter-terrorism strategies and other initiatives to combat organised criminal activity. Meetings are regularly held between Investigation Teams and other Specialist Units which are targeting criminals who frequently operate on both sides of the land border shared by the two Police Services. The following statutes deal with co-operation between An Garda Síochána and other police forces, including the PSNI.Part VII of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994 as amended

The provisions of this Part of the Act set out the manner in which Mutual Assistance Requests are executed in this Jurisdiction. All requests are channelled through the Central Authority for Mutual Assistance at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. This legislation allows Ireland to:

take evidence in connection with criminal investigations or proceedings in another country;

search for and seize material on behalf of another country;

serve a witness summons or any other court process on a person in Ireland to appear as a defendant or as a witness in another country;

serve a document recording a court decision on a person in Ireland;

transfer a person imprisoned in Ireland to another country to give evidence in criminal proceedings there, to be identified there, or to assist proceedings there.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), through the Northern Ireland Office and the Home Office, may send a request for information / evidence relating to criminal investigations to the Central Authority for Mutual Assistance at this Department. In many cases the Garda Síochána Mutual Assistance Section will provide information to the Central Authority in answer to these queries. The transfer of information / evidence through the Central Authority is governed by various conventions such as The Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (1959) and its additional Protocols 1978.

Police to Police requests

Some requests for assistance in investigations can be executed exclusively on the basis of police to police cooperation. The forms of cooperation which can be obtained through police channels include interviewing witnesses or suspects in criminal investigations where the person to be interviewed is willing to cooperate and provide an unsworn statement.

The European Arrest Warrant Act, 2003 and the Extradition Act, 1965

The European Arrest Warrant Act, 2003 and the Extradition Act, 1965, as amended, make provision to deal with the arrest and the extradition of suspects to and from the State in accordance with the provisions of this legislation.

Criminal Justice (Joint Investigation Teams) Act, 2004

This Act provides the terms under which Joint Investigation Teams can be established, under the Act. Section 3 deals with requests to another State to establish a Joint Investigation Team and Section 4 deals with requests from another member State to establish a Joint Investigation Team. The Act also deals with the membership and terms and conditions of membership of Joint Investigation Teams (Section 6), the operation of Joint Investigation Teams (Section 7), Agreements to establish Joint Investigation Teams (Section 8), Participants in a Joint Investigation Team (Section 9) and the use of information (Section 11).

Accountability Mechanisms

Sections 53 to 56 of the Garda Síochána Acts 2005-2007 deal with the secondment of members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to certain ranks in the Garda Síochána and vice versa. Section 56 in particular and Paragraph 49 of Part 6 of SI 214 of 2007, (Garda Síochána Discipline Regulations 2007) deal with a breach of discipline by seconded members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Joint Protocols between An Garda Síochána the PSNI in respect of exchanges and secondment of personnel between the two Forces.

On 21 February 2005, the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland signed two Protocols in respect of secondments and exchanges of personnel between the two Forces. One Protocol between the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland deals with secondments with policing powers for the further improvement of bilateral cooperation between their respective services. It is expected that Secondments will commence in the near future in respect of the Superintendent rank of An Garda Síochána.

The other Protocol between the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland deals with personnel exchanges took effect on 21 February 2005. Fourteen members of An Garda Síochána have entered exchange programmes with the Police Service of Northern Ireland to date. Eighteen members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland have entered exchange programmes with An Garda Síochána to date. Exchange programmes are ongoing. Currently, the exchange of personnel between the PSNI and An Garda Síochána is not geographically based. It is, however, based on specialised areas of work.

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