First, I should like to apologise to you, Sir, to the officials of the House and, indeed, to the gentlemen of the Press for having to detain them in this cold atmosphere. I would not have done it were it not for the seriousness of the situation, a fact which does not appear to have dawned on the Minister for Justice. My question today, one of a series, was:
To ask the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to reports about the disbanding of the Garda Band; if the reports are correct; and, if so, what is the reason for this.
The Minister said he had decided to disband the band and that the reason for it was financial. He threw in, for good measure, the suggestion that the general body of the Garda were behind his action.
Let me say straight off the reel that the Minister was not stating facts when he said the general body of the Garda Síochána were supporting this action. As a matter of fact, the direct opposite is the case and the Minister should be well aware of it. In fact he has received representations from various organisations within the Force. One of the points he made in answer to a further question was that these men were first of all Garda officers who were recruited to do normal duty.
I have before me the advertisement published for recruitment to the Garda Band. It is headed "Garda Síochána —Vacancies for Bandsmen" and it says that the Garda Commissioner invited applications for appointments in the Garda Band. In order to be eligible for appointment, the applicants must (1) be of good character; (2) be not less than five foot nine inches with a mean chest measurement of 34 inches; (3) be in good health; (4) have the primary school leaving certificate or better; (5) be between the ages of 18 and 30 on 1st July; and (6) be capable of reading music and competent to play a brass or reed instrument or drums. It goes on to give details of pay.
These are not the qualifications required of a normal recruit to the Garda Síochána. Not alone that; the Garda authorities do not recruit married men but the Garda Band do. Furthermore, they are selected for one reason only—because they are musicians. When they are taken into the Force naturally, in order to be able to parade, they are taught a certain amount of drill. Many of them do not need this training. During the Christmas period, they have to postpone other work and for three weeks do ordinary Garda duties. In normal periods they do a certain number of hours of ordinary routine duties not requiring the same skill as the ordinary Garda recruit whom they are helping out. They continue to be bandsmen for the remainder of the period.
Last year the band went to America and I have here the souvenir which was sold to thousands all over the United States and portions of Canada. It contained a photograph of the Taoiseach with this message, signed "Seán F. Lemass, Department of the Taoiseach":
I am very happy indeed to learn that the Show "Ireland on Parade" will shortly leave on a tour of some thirty major cities in the United States and Canada. This will be a truly Irish Show. It will constitute the largest group of Irish artistes ever to leave Ireland on such a tour. With a total personnel of some 100 members it includes several Bands and some of our most talented groups of dancers and singers. They all represent the best in Irish entertainment.
I am well aware of the tremendous effort and detailed planning over a long period which has gone into the organisation of this Show. Its organisers and sponsors deserve our congratulations and our thanks. I am confident that all their efforts will be fully rewarded by the success which this Show will achieve and by the warm acclaim with which I know it will be greeted in the United States and Canada.
For those of our race in both countries the Show will, I am sure, be a very special treat. The homeland will, as it were, be paying a most welcome visit to its own sons and daughters. To all the friends of Ireland in the United States and Canada there could scarcely be a more appropriate way of extending warmest greetings and good wishes from us all here at home.
I wish all members of the Show God Speed. May the tour for all of them be most successful and enjoyable.
The whole thing featured the Irish police band—the Band of the Garda Síochána and the Garda Síochána Céilí Band. The whole article was built around the Garda Band. When they went to America, they visited 30 different cities and paid return visits to three of them. The biggest crowd ever to attend at Madison Square Garden went there to hear the show, the centrepiece of which was the Garda Band. More money was taken in than at any other show and, despite suggestions to the contrary, there was no reduction in prices.
Before they went, the band were short of men and took a considerable number of members out of the No. 1 Army Band to fill up the ranks. There was a bit of a row about that because the No. 1 Army Band at that time had a function to fulfil and did not want to lose their bandsmen. As a matter of fact, 24 members of the present Garda Band are ex-Army men. They were trained by the Army and transferred to the Garda Band. Twelve of them bought their way out of the Army and were transferred to the Garda Band. Eleven of them paid £200 each and one paid £90. This was so because they were trained musicians.
The Minister tried to decry the role these people have played. He said they were not doing very much and he highlighted the trips to Templemore and said they went only ten times. I should like to remind the Minister that in 1965 they did 40 paid engagements and seven Céilí engagements. It is of interest to note that the Céilí Band is made up of Garda bandsmen and that this band is the only State-sponsored céilí band in the country. They appeared on four occasions free of charge in St. Stephen's Green and once at the Garda Club in Harrington Street. They made 52 appearances during the year, not including passing-out parades or the Scott Medal presentation. There was an average of two public engagements a week.
The Minister said there was a fee fund not controlled by the Department of Justice. It is not. There is a substantial fund of about £7,000 and I should like to know what will happen to it now. The money has been used in the main for the replacement and repair of instruments. We should like to know also what happened to the substantial sum paid before the band went to America. Deputy Ryan suggested, but it is not verified, that it was about £80,000.
