Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 8 December 2004
10 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the proposed role and functions of the Garda inspectorate announced by him on 5 August 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32500/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe provisions relating to the establishment of the proposed Garda Síochána inspectorate have been published by way of official amendments to the Garda Síochána Bill 2004, Committee Stage of which commenced in the Seanad yesterday and continued today. The proposal to establish the inspectorate is being brought forward in light of the recently published report of the Morris tribunal and the questions arising from it relating to the need for measures to improve democratic accountability for the actions of the Garda Síochána.
The main functions of the inspectorate will be to ensure that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Reform of the day will have independent objective information available to him or her in regard to the operation and administration of the Garda Síochána. The inspectorate will look at thematic policy issues with standards, practice and performance benchmarked to comparable international policing experiences. The key objectives will be to ensure and promote efficiency and effectiveness in the Garda Síochána and to provide advice to the Minister.
The inspectorate will be able to conduct inspections and inquiries in two types of circumstances. The first will be as directed by the Minister, the second will be following consultations with the Minister. This latter provision is designed to allow the inspectorate on its own initiative to identify a particular area or areas which it feels should be examined and, following discussions on the point with the Minister, the Minister can agree that an inspection as recommended by the inspectorate should take place.
There should be no confusion between the role of the inspectorate as outlined and that of the ombudsman commission. The primary function of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will be to investigate complaints by members of the public against members of the Garda Síochána and it will replace the existing Garda Síochána Complaints Board, established under the Garda Síochána Complaints Act 1986. The commission will have comprehensive powers of investigation to deal with complaints and it will have ultimate control and oversight of all complaints processed in accordance with the provisions of the Bill. It will also have the power to investigate of its own motion, without a complaint having to be made, any case involving the Garda Síochána where death or serious harm to a person has occurred, or where it is desirable in the public interest, any matter that appears to it to indicate that a member of the Garda Síochána may have committed an offence or behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings.
When I tabled the question no amendments had been published. I am pleased the Minister has got the legislation back in the Seanad given that it had been lying on the shelf for many months since its introduction in the Seanad. My concern is that the inspectorate is likely to be the eyes and ears of the Minister and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and, in many ways, will take away from the role of the ombudsman. The ombudsman is an independent body. Can we take it that the new inspectorate proposed by the Minister will be an independent body along the same lines as the ombudsman commission or will one set of reporting go directly to the Minister and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and another through the ombudsman's office and, if so, how will the two integrate?
I accept the Morris tribunal found a huge gap in reporting in regard to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I am concerned that the body will report only to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and will be a creature of the Minister and that Department and that we will not get full and proper reporting from it.
The matters are entirely distinct. As I outlined in my reply, there should be no confusion between the role of the inspectorate, as envisaged in the amendment, and the role of the proposed ombudsman commission, which will stand within the four corners relating to its establishment. The ombudsman's primary function will be to deal with public complaints. It will have comprehensive powers to deal with such complaints, thereby ensuring that public confidence in the Garda Síochána is fostered and maintained. The legislation envisages that the inspectorate will be an entirely different office. It is not being designed to operate as some class of rottweiler to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is being established because a tribunal of inquiry, which has examined the matter, has suggested that it should be established.
Will it be an independent body?
That depends on the legislation. It is clear that while the ombudsman will be independent, he or she will require ministerial sanction for certain actions.
I do not oppose the establishment of an inspectorate as a matter of principle, but I have some concerns which are based on reality and perception. I am worried that the establishment of the inspectorate, in the manner which is proposed, will increase the Minister's political control over the Garda. I know the amendment tabled by the Minister in the Seanad envisages a modest role for the Oireachtas, but I have suggested that the inspectorate should report to a security committee or a sub-committee of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights. I propose that the Oireachtas should have more control over the inspectorate, rather than it being directly controlled by the Minister. Does the Minister of State accept that the public is worried and public representatives are concerned about the present formulation of the proposal? My suggestion, that the Oireachtas should have a greater role, is one way of obviating such concerns.
Two issues arise from Deputy O'Keeffe's comments, the first of which relates to the legislation itself. It is clear that it would be more satisfactory to discuss these issues in the context of the legislation that will come before the House.
We will have an opportunity to do so.
The Minister will examine sympathetically any provisions or amendments which will ensure that he or a future Minister cannot engage in improper interference with the operation of the inspectorate. I share Deputy O'Keeffe's concerns in that regard. It is important that we ensure that the office is not the subject of any such doubt. The Deputy's second point was that the Oireachtas should be involved in the inspectorate in some way. The amendment tabled by the Minister in the Seanad contains an element that will ensure that the inspectorate will be accountable to the Oireachtas in some way.
A minor element.
There are limits to that accountability, however. The Minister is the political head of the Department. The set of checks and balances that has been carefully put in place must be observed. As a politician, the Minister will be publicly accountable to the House for the operations of the inspectorate. He will be able to ask it to investigate a particular matter. It is not clear to me that the involvement of the Houses would add to that.
I can think of a former Minister for Justice — he is now before a tribunal — whom one would not want to be in charge of the Garda Síochána in that fashion.
This House elects the Government.
The person to whom I refer represented the Minister of State's party in this House.
