I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding An Garda Síochána. Earlier today, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.
An Garda Síochána: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Noel Grealish on Wednesday, 4 October 2023:
That Dáil Éireann:
acknowledges that:
— it is 100 years since the foundation of An Garda Síochána;
— the mission of An Garda Síochána is "Keeping People Safe";
— An Garda Síochána play a crucial role in our communities, ensuring safety, maintaining law and order, upholding the principles of justice and fostering community well-being;
— through the promotion of crime prevention and visible policing the Gardaí foster a sense of security, especially among the most vulnerable in our communities;
— our communities rely on the Gardaí to respond to emergency calls, patrol our neighbourhoods, prevent and investigate crimes;
— their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to serving the community are invaluable in creating a safe and secure environment for all and deterring criminal activities; and
— to carry out their mission, the Gardaí must have the resources and leadership to do so;
recognises that:
— morale within the force is declining and is presently at an all-time low;
— members of the Garda Representative Association, which represents rank and file Gardaí, overwhelmingly voted no confidence in the force’s most senior officer, the Garda Commissioner, by 98.7 per cent;
— An Garda Síochána is experiencing significant recruitment and retention issues;
— as of July 2023, there were 13,717 members of An Garda Síochána, and this number has continuously declined since 2018;
— recent departures from Garda units through retirement and promotion are not being replaced, resulting in some regional and local units becoming unsustainable;
— members of An Garda Síochána have highlighted issues such as unfriendly family work practices, travel distances to work, rostering issues, and the lack of transfers;
— young members within the force are resigning due to low pay and untenable work patterns;
— the mandatory retirement age of 60 years is a drain on experience within An Garda Síochána;
— statistics from the Central Statistics Office show an increase in attempts/threats to murder, assaults, harassment, robbery, theft and related offences in Quarter 1 2023 in comparison to the previous year; and
— the continuation of these issues within the force will have a detrimental impact on the whole of society; and
calls on the Government to:
— provide a mandatory custodial sentence for the criminal action of purposefully causing injury to a Garda;
— conduct an immediate review of the current Garda Síochána force with the engagement of all stakeholders, to be chaired by An Taoiseach and make recommendations within 12 weeks;
— increase the number of Gardaí in the State to 16,000 by 2028;
— ensure that there is a baseline per capita Garda figure in each county to ensure that certain areas in the State are not under policed;
— increase the number of Gardaí on the beat and the number of community Gardaí;
— review the areas where Garda stations have been closed and where Garda stations have become part-time to identify which locations need an increased Garda presence;
— amend the mandatory retirement age of 60 years;
— increase the entry level pay to 80 per cent of Garda pay, as the current remuneration rates are very low and many new recruits find it difficult to manage financially;
— abandon and cease the implementation of all previous rostering regimes until a review is completed;
— provide funding for additional and ongoing face-to-face psychological support for Gardaí after traumatic incidents or assaults;
— provide additional and ongoing further training and support; and
— provide additional resources and technologies in order for Gardaí to carry out their work safely.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"acknowledges that:
— it is over 100 years since the foundation of An Garda Síochána;
— the mission of An Garda Síochána is 'Keeping People Safe';
— An Garda Síochána play a crucial role in our communities, building stronger, safer communities, maintaining law and order, upholding the principles of justice and fostering community well-being;
— through the promotion of crime prevention and visible policing, the Gardaí foster a sense of security, especially among the most vulnerable in our communities;
— our communities rely on the Gardaí to respond to emergency calls, patrol our neighbourhoods, prevent and investigate crimes;
— the dedication, professionalism, and commitment of the Gardaí to serving the community is invaluable in creating a safe and secure environment for all and deterring criminal activities; and
— to carry out their mission, the Government has ensured in successive Budgets that An Garda Síochána have the resources and leadership to do so;
recognises:
— that following the forced closure of the Garda College during the Covid-19 pandemic, Garda recruitment is now accelerating with each new class group entering the Templemore campus;
— that 100 new Gardaí have attested so far this year, and that another 470 are in active training, with two more classes due into Templemore in October and December;
— the progress being made towards reaching the Government's target of 15,000 members of An Garda Síochána and 4,000 civilian Garda staff;
— the major increase in investment in annual funding through Budget 2023, which provided a total allocation of €2.4 billion, an increase of €340 million in annual funding;
— the new Garda Reserve campaign which will be launched soon, to further support increased policing visibility in our communities;
— the roll-out of Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSP) and the implementation of the Rural Safety Plan;
— the implementation by An Garda Síochána of the new Community Policing Model;
— that the introduction of Community Policing Areas (CPAs), which will be created nationwide with a dedicated Community Garda given responsibility for each new CPA, will improve Garda visibility;
— the recent legislative changes to provide access to Garda members to the industrial relations machinery of the State, including the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court; and
— legislation brought forward before the summer recess to increase the maximum sentence for assaulting a member of An Garda Síochána and other emergency workers, from seven to 12 years; and
calls on the Government to:
— continue to support the work being done by An Garda Síochána with international partners to deal with organised crime gangs and the related issue of drugs in our communities;
— bring forward the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023, currently before the Houses, which will introduce a new framework for policing, security and community safety in Ireland as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing;
— continue to provide supports and initiatives to strengthen wellbeing and job satisfaction of the members and staff of An Garda Síochána; and
— bring forward the Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Bill 2022, to allow for the use of bodycams which will support Gardaí in tackling crime and anti-social behaviour.".
- (Minister for Justice)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 75; Níl, 66; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Cowen, Barry.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harris, Simon.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Madigan, Josepha.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McGrath, Michael.
- McGuinness, John.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Ryan, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Barry, Mick.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, Catherine.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fitzpatrick, Peter.
- Funchion, Kathleen.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lowry, Michael.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- McNamara, Michael.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Munster, Imelda.
- Murphy, Catherine.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Murphy, Verona.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Naughten, Denis.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Ryan, Patricia.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Noel Grealish and Verona Murphy.
Amendment declared carried.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 6.19 p.m. go dtí 9 a.m., Dé Déardaoin, an 5 Deireadh Fómhair 2023.
The Dáil adjourned at 6.19 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Thursday, 5 October 2023.