Not all elements of Garda reform will please everyone, says McEntee

Planned Garda reforms that have provoked strong opposition from within the force were the biggest changes ever to Irish policing and not all elements would please everyone, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD has said.

While the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) on Monday expressed its strong opposition to a new Bill providing for the reforms, Ms McEntee said she was seeking to garner as much support as possible for the changes and was hopeful that process would not become protracted.

“I think policing has changed in the last 100 years and any policing system across the world has had to move and adapt and change and I think it’s important we have a system that is up to date and is held accountable,” the Fine Gael TD said.

Ms McEntee was speaking on Monday evening in Killarney, Co Kerry, at the opening session of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (Agsi) annual conference.

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One contentious element of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill relates to investigators from Garda oversight agencies being able to carry out no-notice searches, without a warrant, including at Garda stations.

Asked if searches without a warrant should be allowed in the Republic, Ms McEntee said: “I think in some instances we have to make sure that there is an ability for an oversight body to come in and do their work. Whether that means without a warrant or not, we will have to work through this process.”

Bolster powers

However, the Bill arose from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, whose recommendations she agreed with. Ms McEntee said the challenge now was to formulate legislation that most of those involved in policing could accept. She said she "hoped" the opposition to the Bill now being voiced from all ranks in the Garda and from the oversight agencies would not result in a very protracted process over years before the legislation would be enacted.

The Bill provided for the most significant reform of the Garda in its history and she did not believe “everybody is going to be happy with every element of the Bill”.

The Bill will bolster the powers Garda oversight agencies have to investigate Garda members against whom complaints or criminal allegations are made. It will also merge some of the existing oversight agencies and create a new Garda board.

The Bill represents the Government’s efforts to introduce policing and oversight reforms recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It sat for over a year, was chaired by former Boston police chief Kathleen O’Toole and reported in 2018.

‘More difficulties’

However, concerns about the planned changes have now been raised by Agsi, Garda superintendents, Garda chief superintendents, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, the Policing Authority and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

Agis president Paul Curran said the Bill will "create more difficulties than positive reform for An Garda Síochána in its current format". He added the "extended powers" to be granted to Gsoc "are without proper justification" and would "encroach on the legal, constitutional and privacy rights of members of AGSI", who were citizens as well as Garda members.

Mr Harris believes the new Bill would give "disproportionate" powers to the Garda oversight agencies. He argued the powers were so unfair to gardaí who could be placed under investigation that they were "unconstitutional" and would be successfully challenged in the courts.