THE NEW IRELAND NEEDS NEW POLICING
Launching “Safe and Secure Communities"
Wednesday, 02 May 2007
 Labour Party Spokesperson on Justice, Brendan Howlin TD, has said that as the Election has now been called people will begin to focus on the real issues and problems that confront them in their communities on a daily basis.
Deputy Howlin said that crime and anti-social behaviour continue to be among the major issues for the public and the Labour party was best-placed to provide real solutions and reform of An Garda Siochana to tackle crime.
“Ireland has changed beyond recognition in the past two decades – mostly for the good. However, new structures in society need to be matched by new structures in the organisation of public services.
“Few services are as important for hard working families and communities as our police force, An Garda Siochana. Yet the structures that were put in place when the Garda Siochana was founded in 1922, remain largely in place today.
“In short, the new Ireland needs new policing.
“Almost seven years ago I published on behalf of the Labour Party a series of major reform proposals for policing in Ireland. Unashamedly taking from many of the excellent proposals of the Patten Commission and informed by my concerns about aspects of policing that I was hearing about, it was a blueprint for 21st century policing.
“That blueprint is as relevant today as it was when first published. In particular it advocated greater scrutiny and accountability of the Gardai through a new Garda Authority to stand between the Garda Commissioner and his officers on the one hand and the Minister for Justice and his Department on the other.
“This Authority will incorporate the current the current Garda Inspectorate and will drive the reform agenda, and the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the Gardai.
“The key objectives of the new Garda Authority will be to:
revise rostering to get Gardai on the streets when they are needed
drive a comprehensive civilianisation programme
open-up senior Garda recruitment to external candidates
improve Garda diversity to reflect changes in Ireland’s population
use performance data to drive innovation in tackling crime
streamline top-heavy Garda management
“In a democratic society like ours we need clearly democratic oversight of An Garda Siochana. This can only be achieved by the creation of an Independent Garda Authority.
“These proposals will involve significant and necessary change. Labour is committed to ensuring strong, effective, professional policing for every community in Ireland. The changes we propose will, we believe, bring this about.”
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