THE new Garda Commissioner has promised a comprehensive review of the way the force investigates serious crime.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Pat Byrne said the Garda's serious crime units may be restructured and a new effort will be made to co-ordinate serious crime investigations.
He appeared dismissive of Thursday's remarks about the force by the Minister of State in the Taoiseach's Department, Mr Gay Mitchell, which he described as "disappointing".
He also said he would be examining whether relationships between gardai and the public had deteriorated.
On Thursday, Mr Mitchell had said in the Dail. "I would say publicly to the new Garda Commissioner that I wish you well. You have a very difficult job, but please keep away from high society receptions.
"We do not want to see you there. I want to see you out meeting the ordinary people in the community."
Asked to comment on these remarks, Mr Byrne said. "I read that in The Irish Times this morning. I welcome first of all the good wishes he sends me as the Garda Commissioner. That's for a start. Secondly, I think I would have to say I'm disappointed at the comments. And thirdly, I, as Garda Commissioner, know well my role and responsibility to the people of this country."
Asked if he would attend many "high society" events during his term, he said. "I intend to go where I think it's appropriate for the Garda Commissioner to go. And I can assure you I'm very much in touch with what happens the ground in local communities.
Towards the end of the press conference, as a press officer insisted he had another appointment, the Commissioner joked. "I have to go to a high society, somewhere."
Mr Byrne said he welcomed the new crime legislation debated in the Dail on Thursday.
"We see it as a step in the right direction. But I think it's important for people to realise that you are not going to have this immediate incarceration of all these people who are involved in serious crime, because crime investigation is a slow and difficult process.
Tackling serious crime would be his first priority as Commissioner.
There was a need to refocus and co-ordinate all our resources that deal with serious crime". This might involve creating a new unit but it would not be the same as the so called "murder squad" of the past. He emphasised that all serious crimes were inter linked.
"People forget that those involved in drug related crime are involved in all other types of crime as well. So it's wrong at times to sectionalise it."
"They're all inter related. It's like saying you have so many gangs you'll find that there's an interaction between them, it's like one big gang.
Asked how many "crime god fathers" he thought there were, he replied. "I hate that term godfathers, I can tell you. The same as I hate that one `joyriders' and `drug barons'. They're all criminals as far as I'm concerned."
He said he would not go into figures regarding the number of major criminals. "You chop off a head and another one grows, so it's a continuous battle," he said. But at the centre was "a small core of hardened criminals".
"Their whole life has been through the criminal world from when they were kids right up the line. That has been their life."
The Commissioner was asked to comment on the suggestion of the Fianna Fail Justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, that the new initiatives against crime could mean 50 major criminals could be taken "off the streets" by the end of the year.
He said it would be "irresponsible" of him as Commissioner to set such targets. "I'm not putting a time on it I'm not putting numbers on it.
But he said the major criminals would be targeted the new Criminal Assets Bureau would be in operation soon and he was pleased that the Minister for Justice had agreed for a Garda officer to be based in the Hague and another in Madrid.
With regard to obtaining information on criminal gangs, the Commissioner said governments had always given the gardai enough money to pay for information when that was required.
He was uncertain about the benefits of a US style witness protection programme (for criminals who gave evidence against their associates).
"I don't think that should be overemphasised," he said. "I question how well they work I must be honest about that."
Other priorities would include bringing the Garda into the next century as a professional, dedicated, determined police force performing well with the consent of the people".
"Some people say to me that relationships between the Garda and the community are not what they used to be. Now if that is so, will be asking questions as to why that is so. I'm not saying I'm accepting that at the moment."
He would also prioritise "the carnage on the roads, behaviour on the streets, public order, issues like that".
Mr Byrne was asked about the rival garda representative groups, and whether their divisions affected morale in the force. He said that "operationally, it has not affected this police force" but the divisions were "a distraction" and he would prefer one representative body for the garda rank.