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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Nov 2016

Vol. 929 No. 1

Priority Questions

Garda Remuneration

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

25. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the implications for her Department’s Estimates in 2017 of the Labour Court recommendations in the Garda dispute; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35147/16]

Will the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality outline for the House the financial consequences for her Department as a result of accepting the Labour Court recommendation in respect of the threatened action by the Garda Representative Association, GRA, and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, AGSI? It is important we are informed of the consequences for the expenditure within her Department.

As the Deputy is aware, following intensive negotiations between the Government, the GRA and the AGSI, facilitated by the Workplace Relations Commission, the Labour Court issued a recommendation. In the case of individual members, the recommendation for the GRA and AGSI would provide extra remuneration of approximately €4,000 on average to a member of the service over the next 12 months through an increase in the value of the rent allowance by €500, bringing it to €4,655 per annum with effect from 1 January 2017, the integration of the rent allowance in the new amount of €4,655 into salary, with consequential increases in unsocial hours and overtime payments also with effect from 1 January 2017, and the introduction of a €15 premium payment per annual leave day to compensate for the uncertainty attaching to the taking of leave by gardaí and other recommendations. The Government has made it clear that it is committed to introducing legislative change to give the Garda associations the right of access to the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. On foot of the Labour Court recommendation, the GRA and AGSI agreed to defer the intended industrial action.

The Government fully respects the decision of the Labour Court as the independent industrial relations body of last resort in the State and agreed last week to accept its recommendation. The outcome of the process is now being examined in detail by all sides and it is hoped that it will form the basis for a final resolution of this dispute following the balloting of members of AGSI and the GRA in due course. Once the outcome of the ballots is known and if the proposals are accepted, the additional budgetary cost will be the subject of discussions between my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. In that regard, officials of both Departments have had an initial discussion on the issues. The Deputy will agree that what is most important at this juncture is that members of the AGSI and the GRA are afforded the time and space to give the Labour Court's recommendation the detailed consideration that it deserves.

Like most people I welcome the recommendation of the Labour Court which averted the threatened strike action of the GRA and AGSI two weeks ago. That Labour Court recommendation, as we know, has been accepted by the Government and we agree it should have been accepted by the Government. It is now being voted upon by the representatives organisations and I agree with the Minister that they should be given time to deliver their verdicts on the proposed deal.

However, we should be aware that at the previous election the people voted in favour of improving services. That was the one message we got from the previous general election. This message was translated into a physical format in the agreement reached between my party and that of the Tánaiste in our confidence and supply agreement. It was recognised that people in the country wanted services improved, as opposed to taxes being cut.

I know many Members of the House share my concern about whether the Labour Court recommendation will result in a reduction in the services provided by the Department of Justice and Equality. When my colleague, Deputy Calleary, asked the Minister a question about the cost of the Labour Court recommendation a few days ago, she said that "depending on a number of variables, the estimated gross annual cost of implementing the Labour Court Recommendation could exceed €50m; however, this gross cost will be offset by statutory deductions for tax, PRSI, etc., which will reduce the net Exchequer cost." I want the Minister to give the House an assurance that the Labour Court recommendation will not have an impact on the services provided by the Department of Justice and Equality.

It would be misleading to talk about cutting back on investment in resources. We have to await the outcome of the ballots. When that is known, if the proposals are accepted the cost of the proposed settlement will be addressed in discussions between the Department of Justice and Equality and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The Deputy will agree that as Minister for Justice and Equality in this and the last Government, I have demonstrated my commitment and that of both Governments to investing in An Garda Síochána and to ensuring that we develop the very best policing service we can for the people of Ireland. As the Deputy knows, that has included reopening the Garda College and making a substantial investment in Garda vehicles. As he rightly mentioned, the programme for Government includes a commitment to ensure we have a police force of 15,000. A number of recruits will be passing out in Templemore on Thursday of this week. An advertisement was placed recently to begin the process of recruiting more gardaí next year. It is intended to have 800 gardaí recruited during the course of next year.

I agree with and support the plan to invest further in An Garda Síochána. That will have the support of the whole House. My concern, which is shared by many Deputies, is that we will see a reduction in services as a result of the Labour Court recommendation. The Minister has already indicated that this will cost approximately €50 million. Regardless of whether the proposal is going to be accepted, we need to know where the money will come from. I presume the Department is making plans for where it will come from. As a result of the Minister's response, I do not know where the €50 million is going to come from. Will it be taken from other sections within the Department? Will the Minister ask the Cabinet for further funding for the Department in response to the Labour Court recommendation? I urge her to ensure the policing services that the people of this country are anxious to see improved are not threatened as a result of the requirement to increase Garda wage payments.

As I have said, it is important to allow the process that has been put in place to run its course. I believe that is the priority right now. I want to ensure every member of the Garda is aware of the details of the recommendations that have been made by the Labour Court. The associations will make sure of this. It is very important that those details are circulated so that members of An Garda Síochána have an opportunity to look at the recommendations, assess the impact they will have on each of them and consider very carefully their response. That is really where we have to keep the main focus. The Department of Justice and Equality, which has a budget of over €2 billion, will examine the outcome of that ballot. If it is accepted, I will discuss its budgetary implications with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The question of how public pay will be determined next year is a whole-of-government issue.

Proposed Legislation

Jonathan O'Brien

Ceist:

26. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the date on which she will publish the equality/disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, which is necessary for the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. [35195/16]

I have tabled this straightforward question to get an update on the date on which the equality/disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill will be published.

I thank Deputy O'Brien for asking this very important question about the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Considerable progress has been made to overcome the remaining legislative barriers to Ireland's ratification of the convention. The Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, which was signed into law on 30 December 2015, is a comprehensive reform of the law on decision-making capacity. The Second Stage debate on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2015 commenced in the Dáil on 5 October last. When it is enacted, it will reform section 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993 to facilitate the full participation in family life of people with intellectual disabilities and the full expression of their human rights. It is crucial that we achieve the necessary balance between safeguarding those rights and ensuring appropriate protection. Work is under way on drawing up the equality/disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill and making progress with the miscellaneous legislative amendments that are necessary to proceed to ratification. It is intended that the Bill will address issues such as the convention's requirements with regard to reasonable accommodation and deprivation of liberty and will remove archaic references in existing legislation relating to mental health. The general scheme of the equality/disability (miscellaneous provisions) Bill is available on the website of the Department of Justice and Equality. The Bill is at the final stages of drafting. While I am not in a position to give an exact date for its publication, I expect to publish the Bill very shortly to facilitate the ratification of the convention by the end of 2016.

I hope we can meet that timeframe.

We are quickly running out of time to meet the timeframe of the end of 2016. The Bill has not been published yet, and the Minister does not have a definitive date for when it will be published. Is there a particular reason there is a delay in publishing it? Article 33 of the convention recommends that an independent monitoring body should be put in place to monitor progress. In the Irish context, there is no single umbrella body that enables us to have such a monitoring process in place. Have we made any progress in that regard? One of the other key recommendations was that disabled persons bodies - they are referred to as "DPOs" in the rapporteur's report - should be involved in the consultation process and in the drafting of the legislation. I wonder what organisations the Minister of State has been consulting as part of the process of drafting this legislation. Have all the other recommendations set out in the rapporteur's report been met? I know the end of 2016 is a very tight timeframe. I hope the Minister of State will meet it, but he will understand my scepticism in this regard.

Yes. Many people have asked this question. I have set the end of this year - Christmas 2016 - as a clear target. Of course there are delays with legislation in the Department of Health. The issues are more bureaucratic than anything else. Over the past six months, I have consulted all groups working in the disability sector. I will continue to do this. I have just come from a meeting in my office with a group of parents of disabled children. I have met more than 3,000 people - parents, disabled people and service providers - over the past six months. They have made their views on many of the services and on the UN convention very clear to me. The background to this is that Ireland signed the convention in 2007 with the intention of being able to ratify it subsequently. Many people have asked why this has taken so long.

Go raibh maith agat.

We sign conventions as a declaration of our commitment to seek to apply the convention concerned in Ireland. We ratify them when we can guarantee to our international partners that we are meeting our commitments. We like to have many of the services in place before we move along. In budget 2017, we have allocated €1.562 billion for the national service plan for people with disabilities. That is an increase of €92 million.

We will do our best to ratify this UN convention as quickly as possible. We are not hanging around in the meantime.

Tá do chuid ama caite.

We are putting in the services. We are forming and developing the services.

You have taken another minute.

Thank you very much, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I thank the Minister of State. In order to ratify it, this is not the only legislation which has to be completed. Is the Minister confident the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill will be completed before the end of the year? Obviously, it is one Bill that needs to be ratified.

That is in committee this week so it depends on the progress within the committee. I would certainly share the Deputy's wish it is completed as quickly as possible but that will be up to the members of the committee in the first instance. It has already been through the Seanad and, if there are amendments, it will have to return to the Seanad. I hope we can make speedy progress. It is a very important Bill with provisions that deal with issues in regard to the grooming of children and other sexual offences.

Judicial Council

Jim O'Callaghan

Ceist:

27. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality when a judicial council will be established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35148/16]

The need to establish a judicial council is once again back on the news agenda. This issue goes back as far as 2010, when the former Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, published a scheme for a judicial council Bill. When will the current Minister's Bill in respect of a judicial council be published and when is it likely to be available?

The Government and I continue to be committed to progressing that legislation as speedily as possible. While it has been regarded by Governments, including the previous Fianna Fáil Government, as a priority, over time it gave way to other pressing and urgent legislative requirements, some of which arose from our troika commitments and some of which concerned important social and societal issues, such as the establishment of the Court of Appeal and last year's marriage referendum, as well as the other 15 pieces of legislation I introduced during the course of the last Government. I assure the Deputy that work on the Bill is very advanced and I look forward to its contents being debated by the Oireachtas. I hope it will be possible to begin that debate early in 2017 and that we will be in a position to publish the legislation before the end of the year.

The Deputy will recall that the current legislative programme includes the judicial council Bill on the A list. Work on the drafting of the Bill is continuing in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General. My Department is working closely with that office and I had a meeting a few days ago on the continuation of that drafting work.

The Government is firmly of the view that it is necessary to provide a platform for the promotion of excellence and high standards of conduct by judges. I believe we in Ireland have been particularly well served by the Judiciary down through the decades, and this has been recognised internationally. As the Deputy is aware, the Judiciary supports the establishment of the judicial council, which is also a priority for me. We are very close to completion of the draft and will hopefully be in a position to undertake further consultation and then publish the Bill.

I was slightly unsure as to whether I should be asking the Minister for Justice and Equality questions about judicial matters because it appears the Government has transferred all responsibility for judicial issues over to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and its Minister. Yesterday we had the extraordinary spectacle of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on the national airwaves giving a rolling interview not in respect of CIE or Irish Rail, but in respect of his call for a judicial council. Everyone is in favour of the establishment of a judicial council yet the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport made it sound like this was some great new reforming idea he had come up with. The judges are looking for it, Fianna Fáil is looking for it and everyone in this House is looking for it.

What we should not allow to pass is that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, on behalf of the Government, goes out into the public domain and tells the public at large that some judges may need to be reminded of their oath. I would like the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to clarify for the Irish public that it is not the view of the Government that members of the Judiciary need to be reminded of their oath. They take their oath very seriously. The hidden message from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport was that we cannot trust a lot of these people and that is why we need to regulate them on a statutory basis.

Let me reassure the Deputy I continue to work on all of the issues of relevance that are central to the Department of Justice and Equality. I have already said I believe this country has been very well served by the Judiciary and that has been recognised internationally in GRECO report after GRECO report. It is my own belief and it is certainly the belief of the Government that we have been well served by the Judiciary.

Clearly, there are developments that need to be put in place and that is recognised in the programme for Government, in which a central element relates to reforms in the appointment of judges. Every system needs a review and needs reform, which is precisely what we are saying needs to be done. Some changes are necessary and I believe they will be welcomed by everyone when we get down to the detail. As the Deputy said, there is and has been widespread support from the Judiciary, from the members of the Government and from the Deputy's party in regard to bringing forward the legislation on the judicial council. It is a widely shared goal and one I hope we will be in a position to deal with very shortly by publishing the legislation.

I have grounds for scepticism about the commitments given by the Government in respect of the establishment of a judicial council. The Fine Gael-Labour Party programme for Government published back in 2011 contained a commitment to establish a judicial council but, five years on, it has not been established.

The important message to be put out is that while, of course, there will be a requirement for judges at times to be disciplined and situations where judges step beyond the mark and need to be told they have stepped beyond it, that is a function that needs to be performed outside this House by the judges themselves. This is why we need the establishment of a judicial council. The establishment of such a council will be for the benefit of the Judiciary and it will also be for the benefit of the Irish public. If we allow a situation to persist where the Government is drifting on the establishment of a judicial council, while at the same time some members of the Government are in the public domain saying that these guys need to be regulated and presenting it as if they do not want to be regulated, it is a dangerous combination for our judicial system. That is why we need immediate action in this respect.

Let us be very clear. This legislation will be published shortly. The Government is committed to it and, as the Deputy said, the Judiciary wants to see a judicial council. There are issues that can be dealt with in terms of the performance of judges and continuing the work judges do to make sure they have a judicial council that will be a support to that work. As I said, we have made it clear we are committed to publishing this legislation. There are reasons it was delayed, primarily due to other priorities and the scale of the work that is done within the Department of Justice and Equality and the various priorities which emerged in the course of the last year or so. We are committed to it and it is certainly an important part of the architecture in regard to the Judiciary that needs to be brought forward.

Garda College

Michael Lowry

Ceist:

28. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the progress to date in regard to the refurbishment of the Garda College in Templemore; the status of recruitment and proposals to extend and expand accommodation and facilities to cater for the additional demand at the Garda College; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34894/16]

At present there are 450 students in the Garda College. Another 200 students will start next week, on 20 November, and next year, from February to November, there will be 800 new recruits. While that expansion and development is to be welcomed, and in particular the recruitment, it creates practical and logistical problems at the college. I would like to hear what plans the Minister has to address these issues.

The Deputy will be aware the Garda College was reopened following the lifting of the moratorium on Garda recruitment. Since then, 1,200 trainee gardaí have passed through the college and it is envisaged, as the Deputy said, that 800 new recruits will enter in 2017. Since the college reopened, 534 recruits have been attested as members of An Garda Síochána and have been assigned to mainstream duties nationwide, and another 150 trainee gardaí will be attested this Thursday, 17 November. Taking account of projected retirements, this will bring Garda numbers to around the 13,000 mark.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that a number of new facilities were built at the college in the early 2000s, including new administration, catering and recreation facilities.

It is accepted that the college infrastructure is in need of further modernisation and I support that.

Indeed, a major Office of Public Works, OPW, programme of works to improve fire safety at the accommodation blocks at the college is well advanced and I understand that work on some five of the seven blocks requiring upgrades has been completed.

However, due to the increased recruitment under the Government’s accelerated recruitment programme, the enhanced training and development strategy that forms part of the Garda Síochána's five-year modernisation and renewal programme and a move away from lecture hall-type courses, a requirement for additional classrooms has been identified. This will be progressed by the Garda authorities in conjunction with the Office of Public Works to examine what precisely is needed in the college and we will move to initial design stage as soon as possible.

The Garda authorities are also working to establish the long-term needs with a view to identifying improvements within the existing campus boundary as well as the potential need to develop facilities and spaces outside the boundary. We are committed to ensuring that not only are gardaí recruited and trained but that we have the appropriate setting for them in Templemore to do their training.

I welcome the Tánaiste's positive response. Does she have within her budget the necessary resources to complete the work under way and to deliver an expansion and development, in-house and on the campus, of more bedroom accommodation, lecture rooms and classroom space, which is urgently required, and to address the parking issues that have arisen around the college and in the town? Will the Minister ensure that when the Office of Public Works is considering this expansion programme for the college, it does not interfere with or interrupt in any way the local golf club, which is adjacent to and part of the college? The golf club has 300 members who use the facility regularly. They value and appreciate it and we do not want that to be interfered with. The accelerated and expanded recruitment is very welcome for Templemore and it helps to address the deficit in Garda numbers nationally. The college makes an enormous contribution to the town and hinterland of Templemore. I am happy that the Minister says there will be development works within the college and that this work will not be farmed out to other areas or other countries outside Tipperary.

There is a budget in place to continue the fire safety work and the upgrading of accommodation in five of the seven blocks. There is further work to be done on the additional classrooms and I envisage that this will go ahead. In respect of the long-term training needs and the improvements that need to be made within the existing campus boundary, in the first instance we must work with the OPW to provide an initial design scheme. We hope to see that develop in the next few months and we will then examine the budgetary implications of that part of the programme.

The golf club lands the Deputy speaks of are owned by the OPW, which leased them in 1998 to a company called Garda College Sportsfield Company Limited whose objectives at the time included the development of recreational facilities for students of the Garda College and in the spirit of community engagement, members of the local community in Templemore joined the golf club.

Garda Stations

Catherine Murphy

Ceist:

29. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the number of Garda stations that are operating on a part-time basis, that is, less than a full 24-hour period; the provisions that have been made to compensate districts affected by a reduced face-to-face service with An Garda Síochána and-or a station operating on reduced hours; when the six stations due to reopen under a pilot scheme will do so and their locations; her plans to extend this pilot scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34842/16]

This question relates to the number of Garda stations that are open on a part-time basis and to a pilot proposal to open an additional six stations, and if there is any intention to expand the scheme beyond those six stations.

As the Deputy will appreciate, the Garda Commissioner is primarily responsible for the distribution of Garda resources in the State and, as Minister, I have no direct role in the matter.

I have, however, been informed by the Garda authorities that Garda personnel assigned throughout the country, together with overall policing arrangements and operational strategy, are continually monitored and reviewed and are determined by a number of factors, including population, crime trends and other operational strategies, as dictated by the policing needs of each individual division. The Policing Authority is also examining the question of allocating appropriate resources to different areas.

I am advised that some 125 Garda stations operate on a 24-hour basis throughout the State, with 439 not operating on that basis. Certain stations operate up to 14 hours per day, while the opening hours of others depend on the availability of resources. The Garda authorities are satisfied that the restructured station network continues to provide the necessary levels of policing services through a centralisation of services which in turn has facilitated the introduction of enhanced patrolling systems that are operational and intelligence led. As we recruit more gardaí there will be more visibility, which is important, and more community-oriented police services. There are several benefits which unfortunately I do not have time to detail. We have the funding for 800 Garda recruits and up to 500 civilians and the capital plan provides €205 million for investment in the information and telecommunications infrastructure.

I have requested the Garda Commissioner, while fully cognisant of her statutory functions in relation to the distribution of Garda resources in the State, to identify six stations for reopening on a pilot basis in line with the commitment in the programme for a partnership Government. This pilot scheme is intended to feed into the wider review being overseen by the Policing Authority into, among other things, the dispersal of Garda stations in rural areas. The authority has formally requested the Garda Síochána Inspectorate to examine the dispersal and use of resources available to the Garda Síochána in the delivery of policing services to local communities and to make recommendations.

Many stations are open in theory but in fact they are closed most of the time. That is one of the criticisms I hear constantly. It will be important that the Policing Authority will consider the policing plans. I have never found, and I have looked at them each year, that they really do what the Minister says they should do, in other words, the demographic shifts and crime levels determine the level of cover. That does not seem to correlate. I have looked at them every year and made the same criticism every year. What is positive this year is that the Policing Authority will consider it. Presumably it will have a role in respect of the service level agreements for the opening of these six stations. Is it intended then to open further stations or will the evaluation be carried out in respect of those that are opened on a pilot basis?

The pilot would inform the other aspect of the work that is being done by the Garda Inspectorate. It will be in a position to inform the broader review. I agree with the Deputy and think it is extremely important that the Garda Inspectorate is examining in detail the dispersal and use of resources available to the Garda Síochána in the delivery of policing services to local communities and will make recommendations to provide a more effective, visible and responsive policing service. The needs vary quite considerably throughout the country. If the Deputy examines the statistics for crime, there are huge variations and there are trends at different times where one type of crime may replace another or comes to the surface and needs to be dealt with. That does need resources to be used in a flexible way. The Deputy made a point about a certain inflexibility in that regard in the past. It is really important that the Garda Commissioner is in a position to respond in a flexible way and move the resources to where they are needed and that is certainly the intention in the context of the examination taking place.

I welcome the fact that the Policing Authority will have a look at this. When we, the Deputies of Kildare, met the assistant commissioner on a number of occasions, we were pretty much told that what one has one holds, and that was the approach. That flies in the face of policing plans being what they are supposed to be, which is a dynamic and responsive approach to change. One issue that might come up in the choice of the potential opening of police stations is the availability of stations. Obviously, some of them were closed with the intention of being sold or being used for something else. If there is to be a change in that approach, it is very important that there is the scope not to have to rebuy premises, if there are good premises in a location, and there is a rethink on a Garda station for that area. It is important that is reviewed as a matter of urgency. Obviously, it will limit the scope of opening stations on the basis of need.

I will put some statistics on the record. There are 564 Garda stations in the State. This compares very favourably with comparable jurisdictions. For example, in Northern Ireland in 2012, there were 86 police stations providing policing services to a population of €1.5 million. In Scotland, the ratio is approximately 340 stations to 5.2 million people. We have to bear that in mind and ask the question: what is the best type of police force and police response that we need to see in order to deal with emerging crime trends? What does 21st-century policing look like? It is very important that we have a mobile and visible force responding to crime in various areas. I take the point the Deputy is making that people feel a reassurance from local Garda stations, but we have to examine precisely what works best. That is what we are trying to do in looking at the police strategy and the role of the Policing Authority and in overseeing the priority areas that An Garda Síochána has identified for the coming year and the future.

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