‘Right now’ is time for root-and-branch reform, Garda chief told

The time for root-and-branch reforms of the Garda Síochána led by Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan is "right now", the Garda Inspectorate has told TDs and Senators.

Replying to questions from members of the Oireachtas justice committee on Wednesday, Deputy Chief Insp Mark Toland said: "We are saying the time is right now. They have the people in place; they have the senior management team."

The inspectorate was appearing before the committee following its publication of a highly critical report in which it said the Garda has too many management layers and a culture of caution, while key sections are badly resourced and run.

Chief inspector Robert Olson said the Government has cleared the way for new recruitment to the force, and has provided significant other funding.

Shortfalls identified

This financial support, he said, would address many of the shortfalls identified in the inspectorate’s report, including technology, vehicles, stations and refurbishments.

“We see this as an opportunity for the Garda Síochána to restructure and modernise,” Mr Olson said, emphasising the need for major institutional reform with credible oversight.

Ms O’Sullivan has not responded to the sharply worded criticisms in the report, apart from saying senior management would formulate a “comprehensive response” in the coming weeks.

Much of the justice committee session was given over to implementation of the report’s recommendations and discussion of whether there was confidence the recommendations would be adopted and supervised.

Committee chairman David Stanton asked what timeframe was proposed.

Mr Olson said the elements had been split into categories of short, medium and long-term duration, taking between one and several years. Technological change was identified as one area that would take a longer duration.

“You can’t set it [a time frame] until you really start doing it,” he said.

Mr Toland said many of the 81 recommendations - which deal broadly with structure, staffing and deployment of resources - should have been implemented previously.

“Seventy five per cent of those recommendations could be done without cost; some of them are policies that have been drafted but haven’t been published, so there is actually a lot of recommendations that could happen really quickly,” he said.

Desire for change

Public meetings had demonstrated an appetite to see more gardaí on the street today rather than in a year’s time, he said, while there was also a desire for change within the organisation itself.

“We have been told that things have been implemented [in the past], and then when we go and check we find that the benefits have not been realised,” he said.

“And that’s an efficiency waste. I think there is a desire to change but I think people want to see it happen far more quickly than traditionally it has happened.”

Fianna Fáil's spokesman on justice, Niall Collins, asked how many recommendations from previous inspectorate reports had been implemented.

While no exact figure was available, senior inspector Eimear Fisher said of 700 recommendations, just five had been rejected by gardaí.

“There is some traction in relation to implementation, but obviously the inspectorate would like more,” she said.

Mr Collins said there was a “chronic” problem with implementation and asked if the organisation was averse to change.

Mr Olson said there was a longstanding structure in the gardaí and “the culture is designed to sustain the structure and resist change”.

“They have been in place for so long and yes, there is resistance,” he said.

Mr Collins also asked whether Garda management was paying lip service to the idea of change, “saying one thing and doing another - in other words doing nothing?”

Defensive at start

Mr Toland said people are often defensive at the start, but once recommendations are explained they can become more accepting. “There is a fear of the unknown,” he said.

“I think the structure at the moment is creaking, and if they continue to try and operate the same structure then services [like] 999 calls are going to suffer to the public.”

Sinn Féin's justice spokesman Padraig Mac Lochlainn said the issue of change was not just for Garda management but also the Department of Justice.

He said the most pressing issue was “to make sure this is the last time you publish a report where the recommendations are not ensured and overseen to be implemented”.