A REPORT of more than 200 pages will land on the desk of the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, this month. It will recommend a thorough overhaul of the Garda Siochana, with enough proposals to keep a team of managers, lawyers, accountants and time and motion experts busy for a year.
Although the Minister's desk has been burdened with similar documents over the last 20 years, the Government is committed to this report.
It originated in last summer's blizzard of anti crime measures which included the appointment of a review group, chaired by industrialist Mr Tony Barry, which was asked to identify ways to improve the force's efficiency.
A draft report prepared for the group advises changes to how the force is run and suggests areas for further review.
The group will likely make few amendments to the draft by management consultants Deloitte and Touche.
The central recommendations, concerning the role of the Garda Commissioner and his relationship to the Department of Justice, repeat the proposals of an earlier Deloitte report and echo those of the 1970 Conroy report.
These involve making the Commissioner the "accounting officer" for the force rather than the secretary of the Department of Justice, as at present. In this way, he would have responsibility for resources and would be accountable for how they are used.
The document also suggests ways to help gardai focus on their core policing functions" by suggesting the transfer of administrative duties, such as certifying unemployment forms, to other agencies.
Deloitte and Touche has backed away, however, from an earlier suggest ion that the Garda become less involved in traffic management. It says there are no indications that transferring the function to another body would improve performance. It has also decided gardai should retain their functions relating to the execution of court warrants.
The report does not suggest that individual gardai lack motivation or competence but represents them as trapped in a bureaucracy where paperwork and unnecessary procedures are given priority.
The report suggests at least 400 people could be added to the 650 civilians working with the 10,750 strong force, so that gardai would be free for policing duties such as patrolling.
Civilians could be appointed to the top posts in the personnel and finance divisions and Garda stations could be given civilian managers. Some civilians might also be appointed as ministerial drivers, it says.
A section of the report on "red tape" says the Garda "scores poorly" when rated for bureaucracy, flexibility, action orientation and accountability.
Some members feel accountability amounts to a search for "scapegoats" when something goes wrong.
In addition "there is little awareness of the cost of activities, and hence little awareness of how activities could become more efficient or more effective".
The report proposes changes to Garda working hours, aimed at increasing available manpower at the time most crime takes place. The changes - which will be resisted by representative associations unless they are accompanied by pay increases - are also aimed at finding ways for senior officers to achieve a "critical mass" of gardai when deploying members for special operations.
It notes that under current arrangements, each station has at best only one or two members available for "pro active" anti crime measures such as surveillance and patrolling at any one time.
The report says the management layers between the Commissioner and the Garda on patrol is more than necessary, and the appointment of regional commissioners has added a further layer.
The report also suggests the Garda Commissioner should be able to close stations or restrict their opening hours, provided this follows local consultation.
The consultants have concluded that more effort must be devoted to planning - there is "little evidence of high level strategic planning, either at headquarters, divisions or districts".
In addition there is "a lack of clarity of targets or objectives". In service training courses are attended by as few as 50 per cent of gardai in some areas. The report says these courses should be mandatory.
While the consultant has recommended that "double jobbing" on the force be stopped - at least for new members - it admits it has no way of knowing how many gardai have other jobs or income. The report calls for current members to report details of their other employment to the Commissioner's office.
The report suggests better cooperation between Customs and the Garda. While the two bodies previously agreed to exchange liaison officers, "this however has not occurred yet", it says.
The report makes significant recommendations for legal change. It says a further 24 hours should be added to the 12 hours under which people can be detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
It also recommends "a narrowly worded statute allowing the gardai to compel answers to questions in the investigation of serious crime".
"Providing various safeguards for the rights of defendants are included such a statute might pass constitutional review," it says.
On crime investigation, the report suggests greater use of the method of focusing on particular criminals rather than crimes, so that muggers and burglars receive the attention given to major armed robbers and drug traffickers.