The Cabinet will be asked tomorrow to endorse the most radical reform of the Garda since the force was established in 1925.
Plans circulated by the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, will see the introduction of an independent Garda inspectorate and change to the structures of accountability in the force.
The reform package will be discussed at the Cabinet two days after the new Garda Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy, took office. A former deputy commissioner, Mr Conroy took office yesterday after the retirement on Sunday of Mr Pat Byrne.
Mr McDowell's spokesman said a Bill would be introduced in the autumn. It was hoped to have the legislation enacted early next year, he said.
The plans follow a difficult period for the Garda, whose credibility has been undermined by a spate of damaging incidents and allegations.
Tribunals of inquiry are examining allegations of corruption on the part of some gardaí in Co Donegal and the shooting dead by gardaí of Mr John Carthy at Abbeylara, Co Longford.
In addition, gardaí who policed the Reclaim the Streets march in Dublin in May last year failed to identify to the Garda Complaints Board the colleagues responsible for assaults on demonstrators.
The new inspectorate that will replace the Garda Complaints Board will have three members, according to sources. It will be statutorily independent of the Garda.
Members of the inspectorate are likely to include individuals with a legal or academic background in policing and, perhaps, very senior policing professionals who have served in other jurisdictions.
Unlike the Garda Complaints Board, the inspectorate will be empowered to establish its own investigations into Garda activities.
It will also exercise the function of Garda Ombudsman to deal with complaints against gardaí by members of the public.
This legislation will also transfer to the Garda Commissioner the role of accounting officer for the Garda vote. However, this transfer will take effect only when the Government is satisfied that a new performance and accountability framework itself is in place.
As well as having an enhanced reporting relationship on police performance with the Minister for Justice, the Commissioner will be accountable directly to the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts for the management of Garda resources manner.
The Commissioner will be supported in his new role by a civilian director of finance and a team of support accountants.
The transfer of the accounting officer role to the Commissioner will also be accompanied by the introduction of new independent financial audit procedures.
These proposals follow a review carried out as part of the Garda Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) process.
The process was prepared by a Garda SMI steering committee consisting of private and public sector representatives, including senior officials from the Department of Justice and Law Reform and the Garda.
