Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 17 May 2016
154. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to modernise An Garda Síochána and to adopt best international practice; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10627/16]
View answerThe Government is focused on maintaining and enhancing public confidence in policing in Ireland, while continuing to support the men and women of An Garda Síochána in their day-to-day work of keeping our communities and country safe. This means firstly overseeing continued reform of the accountability and oversight of policing in Ireland; and secondly delivering on a programme of reform, modernisation and investment in An Garda Síochána particularly focussing on organisation, processes and systems.
The Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to continue to support the Policing Authority in its oversight role. The establishment of the Authority on 1 January this year was undoubtedly a very important milestone in the policing reform agenda. The Programme also commits to enhancing the role of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in providing an independent complaints mechanism.
The Garda Síochána Inspectorate "Changing Policing in Ireland - Delivering a Visible, Accessible and Responsive Service", which I published last December will make an important contribution to the on-going modernisation agenda in An Garda Síochána. The role of the Inspectorate is to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the operation and administration of An Garda Síochána and how it conducts its work through undertaking comprehensive analysis of policies and procedures in the organisation and benchmarking them against the best practices and standards of comparable police services. The report identifies scope for broad-ranging reforms in the administration and operation of An Garda Síochána and requires a considered response. Some of the recommendations are far-reaching and, if implemented, would involve a fundamental restructuring of An Garda Síochána across the country. It is, therefore, important that the full implications of the recommendations and the analysis underpinning them are considered in detail before any decisions are taken.
With these considerations in mind, I put in place a process to seek the views of the Garda Commissioner and other bodies to whom recommendations are directed. Those responses are now under consideration in my Department with a view to the preparation of proposals for implementation for consideration by Government in due course.
In addition, of course, the Garda Commissioner has developed a 5 year modernisation and renewal programme for An Garda Síochána as a response to the findings of various internal and external reports, including previous reports of the Inspectorate. I understand that the programme addresses many of the themes covered by the most recent Inspectorate report and will also be sufficiently flexible to take on board any other agreed reforms.
Finally I very much welcome the fact that the Capital Programme 2016-2021 makes significant commitments to investment in An Garda Síochána including some €205 million in additional ICT capital investment. This investment will address many of the recommendations in various Inspectorate Reports and will address the under-investment in technology over many years.
