The "most important legislative proposals on policing" ever to come before the Houses of the Oireachtas were introduced in the Dáil yesterday.
The Garda Síochána Bill will replace, with just a couple of exceptions, all previous Garda-related legislation since 1924, according to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell.
Introducing the controversial legislation, which has been passed by the Seanad, the Minister said it had three main objectives. One was to reform the legislative structure under which the Garda was managed. It also provides for a new mechanism to deal with complaints by the public against gardaí. And the third objective was to establish an independent Garda Síochána inspectorate. This "will provide independent advice to the Minister in respect of the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations and administration of the Garda Síochána".
Mr McDowell said it would act as a "modern constitution for a modern and even more professional police force at the beginning of a new century".
He said the Bill openly defines the role and relationship of the Minister and the Garda Commissioner and it allows for the "appointment of properly trained volunteer members to the Garda Síochána in the future".
The Minister insisted that this was "entirely separate from the business of increasing the strength of the force to 14,000 members, and I make it clear that in no way do I consider a Garda reserve to be a substitute for a professional full-time police force in the community".
Fine Gael wanted the Garda Síochána to be the best police force in the world, according to the party's justice spokesman, Mr Jim O'Keeffe. "That means a range of things. It means being the best resourced, best trained and best motivated force. It means having adequate numbers and being best managed. It also means being equipped with cutting-edge technology and having decent, modern accommodation and equipment. I am convinced that we have highly motivated new recruits coming into the force but they are coming into a system that is in major need of reform. The Bill does not provide for that reform."
Labour's spokesman, Mr Joe Costello, said that "the time has come for a root-and-branch review of the culture, role, structures and operations of the Garda. Unfortunately, this is not what we have here".
He said it was "time to establish an independent commission on policing in Ireland", similar to the Independent Commission on Policing set up under the Good Friday agreement.
Sinn Féin's justice spokesman, Mr Aengus Ó Snodaigh, called for the Special Branch as it was currently structured to be disbanded. "Sinn Féin does not put the Garda Síochána in the same category as the RUC or PSNI," he said. "However, the history of the Garda Síochána is not unblemished and it points to the urgent reform needed. Elements of the Garda have been involved in aggressive, undemocratic, unlawful action. Its Special Branch has been used as a political force against republicans over the years," he added
The debate was adjourned.
