Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 29 September 2021
177. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Justice the person or body that will manage the promotion of Garda sergeants, inspectors and superintendents in the future under her Department’s planned reforms. [46859/21]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that promotions to the ranks of Sergeant and Inspector are the subject of recent Regulations - Garda Síochána (Appointment to the Ranks of Inspector and Sergeant) Regulations 2021 S.I. 370/2021.
These Regulations were drafted in accordance with Section 122(1)(j) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, and fulfil a long-term objective to establish an efficient, independent and best practice promotion process for Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. The requirement to amend the promotion process for Sergeants and Inspectors was endorsed in the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) following its fundamental in-depth review in 2018, and was contained as a key action in ‘A Policing Service for our Future’, the implementation plan for the CoFPI report.
These Regulations mark a fundamental change by providing that promotion competitions to these supervisory ranks, which previously had been managed wholly by An Garda Síochána, will for the first time be carried out in conjunction with the Public Appointments Service (PAS). Following an independent selection process carried out by PAS, a panel will be formed from which the Garda Commissioner will appoint candidates as appropriate and in accordance with the requirements of An Garda Síochána.
The introduction of the Regulations has allowed the commencement of a new competition for promotion to Garda Sergeant which will address the need for new appointments to this important supervisory role within the organisation.
It is my intention that these new arrangements for promotion to Sergeant and Inspector would continue after the enactment of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill which is currently being drafted. Insofar as appointments to the rank of Superintendent are concerned, these are currently made by the Policing Authority. Under the Bill, responsibility for such appointments will transfer to the Commissioner and it would be my expectation that promotion competitions for these appointments would also be conducted by the Public Appointments Service in the future.
