McDowell dismisses setting up policing authority

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, yesterday rejected the notion that an independent policing authority should be established in the wake of this week's Morris tribunal report.

Speaking in Ennis, Co Clare, Mr McDowell said that such a move "would be a retrograde step".

He added: "The problem with an independent policing authority is that it would only add to my difficulties, rather than taking away from them.

"The real question is accountability, the chains of command, the chains of accountability and the new structure in the Garda Bill is designed to maximise accountability, to make the Commissioner personally answerable to Oireachtas committees, to put the relationship between the Government of the day and the Commissioner and the force on a very clear statutory footing."

Mr McDowell said that "putting a new layer between me and the gardaí would not increase accountability".

"It would make it more difficult for me to get information and the Morris report indicated that the Department of Justice was at the moment isolated from the Garda Síochána

"So putting in a new layer of insulation between me and the Garda force would be, in my view, a retrograde step."

Mr McDowell said that the establishment of a policing authority "would rapidly bring about a situation where my capacity to answer in public for the way in which the executive arm of the State's policing responsibility is discharged would be diminished, not enhanced".

He added that proposals for an independent authority "are easy to talk about".

"What is really needed is public confidence to be restored on the basis of actions on the ground." The Minister said that this would involve "direct lines of accountability and a sense where someone is going wrong, somebody is going to address it and do something about it".

An independent policing authority "would just mean another layer of non-accountability and I don't propose to bring that about".

He said he hoped the Garda Bill would become law before the end of the year.

On his visit to Ennis yesterday, prior to officially opening the new Ennis courthouse, the Minister met with gardaí at Ennis Garda station.

Speaking at the opening of the courthouse, he said gardaí, "particularly those hard working members upholding the best standards shouldn't be demoralised by this".

He added: "Of course, it [the Morris report] is a matter of concern, but as Minister I intend to bring the force through this, to learn, to strengthen the force, to reorganise it, to reform it and to make it better.

"And whereas yesterday was a dark day, and there maybe a few more dark days to come, the fact is we are going forward to a better future."

Asked if the Morris report now gave him a stronger hand to reform the gardaí, Mr McDowell said: "I hear people say that it strengthens my hand, but I believe that my hand was very strong anyway, it is not a matter of using momentary advantage derived from these unfortunate events to do things which I wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.

"I have approached this on the basis that I have a long-term strategy for An Garda Síochána, there are short-term things that I intend doing.

"This will add impetus to my determination, but my overall plan is not going to change dramatically," Mr McDowell said.