Press release
Landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill marks a new departure for policing in Ireland
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- Bill will embed in statute the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland to improve the performance and accountability of An Garda Síochána
- Community Safety – ensuring people are safe and feel safe – central to reforms
- independent oversight and governance of An Garda Síochána to be strengthened
- provision for stronger independent oversight of policing through the new Policing and Community Safety Authority incorporating its own inspection function
- Complaints Ombudsman to be given greater independence and an expanded remit
- new role of Independent Examiner of Security Legislation to further strengthen independent review of security legislation and the delivery of security services
The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee today announced that she has secured government approval to publish the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. It is expected to become law next year.
The Bill marks a new departure for policing in Ireland giving effect to the recommendations made by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI). It provides a comprehensive and robust framework of accountability, governance and oversight of policing and security and a new approach to community safety.
The Bill will embed a key principle from the Commission’s Report that preventing crime and harm and making our communities safer does not rest with An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice alone - it will be most effectively achieved as a ‘whole of government’ responsibility with departments and agencies such as health and social services, education authorities and local authorities, the Gardaí and the wider community working together to prioritise and support the overall objective of safer communities.
It is a shared responsibility with departments and agencies such as health and social services, local authorities, the Gardaí and the wider community working together. In line with this, the Bill establishes Local Community Safety Partnerships that will develop local safety plans that are tailored to the priorities and needs identified by communities themselves.
The safety partnerships will provide a forum for state agencies and local community representatives to work together to deliver safer communities. In effect, local communities will work in tandem with State organisations to draw up plans to improve community safety in their areas.
The Bill was the subject of extensive engagement with stakeholders, including with the Garda Commissioner, the policing oversight and complaints bodies, the Oireachtas and civil society.
Announcing publication of the Bill, Minister McEntee said:
“An Garda Síochána has performed a vital role in protecting our communities and the State for the past century. In this centenary year, I believe this Bill will build on the achievements of An Garda Síochána and strengthen the organisation for the demands of the coming decades.
“As Minister for Justice, I am incredibly proud of the work done by the members and staff of An Garda Síochána. Through their vital work, they protect and uphold human rights and protect the public from harm, and I want to thank all Garda personnel – past and present – for their commitment to serving their communities. I am all too conscious of the daily risks they take in doing so but they will always have my support and that of the government.
“This legislation maintains the momentum and supports the widespread policing reform being advanced by the Commissioner and my department under ‘A Policing Service for our Future’, the implementation plan based on the CoFPI report which is overseen by the Department of the Taoiseach.
“At the heart of this Bill, and of our approach, is everyone’s right to be safe and feel safe in their communities. The Bill acknowledges that community safety is not the responsibility of An Garda Síochána alone but requires a range of State agencies working with local communities.
“Our new Community Safety Partnerships will put this approach into practice right across the country – with communities working with a range of agencies and organisations to draw up Community Safety Plans on how to make their localities safer.
“The focus is now shifting to the task of implementation. My department is already engaged in planning and coordinating this vital work, in conjunction with our Agency partners, so that the provisions and the new bodies can be put in place promptly on the Bill’s commencement.”
The target date for full implementation is the end of 2023 with commencement to follow in January 2024. When enacted, the Bill will repeal the Garda Síochána Act 2005 (as amended) in its entirety.
The General Scheme of the Bill completed pre-legislative scrutiny at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice earlier this year. Subsequent refinements are reflected in the Bill as approved by Cabinet. In particular, the accountability framework applying to the Garda Commissioner has been reviewed and clarified and the Bill now includes a clear statement that the Garda Commissioner is, subject to the Act, independent in the performance of his or her functions.
The roles of the governance and independent oversight structures provided for in the Bill have also been refined to ensure that they complement each other and work together to improve the performance and accountability of our police service.
The Minister said:
“The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill takes into account the suggestions of a wide range of stakeholders, including the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Oireachtas Justice Committee. I wish to thank all of those who contributed their views to the process.
"The recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland are central to the Bill and recognising that upholding the human rights of individuals and communities and preventing harm, in particular to individuals who are vulnerable or at risk, are core to the role of An Garda Síochána, is rightly at the forefront of these reforms."
Minister of State for Law Reform, James Browne, said:
"Community safety is about people being safe, and just as importantly feeling safe in their community. This is not something that can be achieved solely by traditional, boots-on-the-ground policing though of course that will continue to be needed. The innovative Local Community Safety Partnerships will provide a forum for State agencies and local community representatives to work together to listen to, prioritise and act on community concerns. The Partnerships will build on the structures of the Joint Policing Committees, in order to develop and deliver a modern dynamic forum for the future.”
The Bill will introduce stronger independent external oversight of An Garda Síochána. A new Policing and Community Safety Authority, combining the existing oversight functions of the Policing Authority and Garda Síochána Inspectorate, will be established.
The new Authority will oversee and assess in an independent and transparent manner the performance of An Garda Síochána in relation to policing services, with the benefit of an expert in-house inspection function, which will have stronger inspection powers including the power to conduct unannounced visits of Garda premises. The new body will continue to engage with the Garda Commissioner and the senior leadership team including through regular public meetings.
The complaints body, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, will be renamed the Office of the Police Ombudsman with redesigned processes and much greater financial independence, including for the first time its own Vote. The body itself will be restructured, replacing the current three person commission with an Ombudsman and Deputy Ombudsman model, so that the organisation will have a clear and publicly identifiable leader.
An overhaul of investigation procedures to support timely and effective resolution of complaints and the conduct of investigations is also provided for in the Bill. The new streamlined procedures include appropriate safeguards protecting the rights of everyone involved to fair procedures and natural justice.
Commenting on the new independent external oversight mechanisms, Minister McEntee said:
“The new Policing and Community Safety Authority builds on the strengths of our existing oversight arrangements, notably the public scrutiny provided by the Policing Authority and the work of the Garda Inspectorate in benchmarking Garda performance against best practice and driving continuous improvement.
"The value of the role of the Policing Authority has been clearly demonstrated, including through its recent enquires into the cancellation of 999 calls. The new Policing and Community Safety Authority will be empowered to undertake similar scrutiny of how An Garda Síochána is performing its policing role with an added ‘in-house’ inspection capacity that is not currently available to the Policing Authority.
"The new Police Ombudsman constitutes a major overhaul of the system for the handling and investigation of allegations of wrong doing. Not only will this body greatly strengthen independent oversight and enhance transparency, it will improve efficiency and the time taken to resolve complaints.
"The Bill introduces stronger independent external oversight of An Garda Síochána.”
The Bill will support the internal capacity of An Garda Síochána to manage itself effectively, deliver reform, increase diversity, and improve outcomes for communities. The Garda Commissioner will act as a “true CEO”, in a similar manner to other public sector bodies, to lead the organisation and drive change.
The Bill will deliver an independent impartial best practice system of making appointments to An Garda Síochána at all levels bringing greater alignment between the recruitment of Garda members and Garda staff.
The Garda Commissioner, as recommended by CoFPI, will be empowered to recruit Garda staff directly to the police service rather than to the Civil Service as is currently the case.
Commenting on this Minister McEntee said:
“Empowering the Garda Commissioner to recruit Garda staff directly will enable the different skills and experience of Garda members and staff to be leveraged to contribute to enhancing the capacity of the organisation to deliver.
"In the case of existing Garda staff I want to assure them that there will be engagement with their trade unions before any change in their status takes effect.”
The Commissioner will be supported and held to account by a non-executive statutory board, as is the standard across the public and private sector. The Garda Board will not have any role in relation to operational matters. Referring to the establishment of the Board the Minister said:
“The existence of a Board is the norm in public bodies of this size and scale. The Board will help An Garda Síochána to anticipate and respond to changes in the ways in which policing will need to be delivered in the coming decades. It will also provide assurance to the Minister of the day around internal governance and risk management and mitigation.”
The Bill will also strengthen Ireland’s national security infrastructure through the establishment of a new body - the Independent Examiner of Security Legislation.
The Independent Examiner will be an independent voice in this very sensitive area of government responsibility, where the public interest lies in ensuring confidence in the effectiveness and proportionality of security measures.
The work of the Independent Examiner will complement the work of the policing oversight bodies in relation to the work of An Garda Síochána.
The Minister said:
“The Commission on the Future of Policing recommended separate and new arrangements for the oversight of national security matters, recognising that this area is highly sensitive. The Independent Examiner will enhance Ireland’s national security response through the review and oversight of the operation and effectiveness of security legislation and practice.”
Important Note: The text of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2022 was approved by Government on 22 November 2022, subject to any final drafting or textual changes to be agreed between the Minister and the Attorney General. The text is being reviewed to identify any such changes that may be necessary. The Bill will be presented to a House of the Oireachtas, and published, in the coming weeks. Links to the relevant documents can be found below.
Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill Explanatory Memorandum (Draft)
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Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill Regulatory Impact Analysis
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The General Scheme of the Bill underwent Pre-Legislative Scrutiny at the Oireachtas Justice Committee during two sessions, in October 2021 and February 2022.
The Committee published its report on the Bill in June, available here:
The Bill will make community safety a “whole of government responsibility” by:
- placing statutory obligations on departments and public service bodies to cooperate with each other to deliver safer communities
- establishing national structures to provide strategic direction and ensure that collaboration is working
- establishing innovative local Community Safety Partnerships to develop local safety plans tailored to the priorities and needs identified by communities themselves
The Local Community Safety Partnerships will provide a forum for State agencies and local community representatives to work together to act on community concerns. They will have a broader remit and broader membership than the Joint Policing Committees they will replace. Membership will include local representatives, service providers and a range of community representatives who will work in partnership supported by dedicated staff. This will feed through other structures into a national strategy to guide the work of other bodies.
Three pilot projects are currently running in Dublin’s North Inner City, Waterford and Longford which will inform the subsequent rollout of the Safety Partnerships to local authority areas in the country.
The Community Safety Innovation Fund also reflects the success of An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds of crime by funding projects communities themselves know will help in improving their safety.
The Fund has increased from €2 million to €3 million under Budget 2023 and a call for funding will issue in early 2023.
The new Policing and Community Safety Authority will:
- oversee and assess in an independent and transparent manner the performance of An Garda Síochána in relation to policing services
- oversee how An Garda Síochána is delivering on its objectives to improve community safety
- scrutinise performance including through monitoring progress on the AGS annual plan
- conduct inspections at its own initiative or at the request of the Minister
- conduct unannounced visits of Garda stations and other premises (where garda personnel are assigned) as part of its inspections and conduct joint inspections with other inspection bodies
- require the assistance and cooperation of the Garda Commissioner, including through the provision of information, documents and attendance at meetings (including in public)
- require the Garda Commissioner to respond to any recommendation which is made by the Authority on foot of an inspection within a time period specified by the Authority
- monitor implementation of its recommendations by An Garda Síochána
- determine policing priorities for the approval of the Minister, following community engagement, which will inform An Garda Síochána’s strategic and annual planning
- promote inter-agency collaboration and community engagement to improve community safety
- conduct research and provide policy advice to the Minister
- focus exclusively on providing robust independent oversight
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will continue in being renamed as the Office of the Police Ombudsman, with the three person Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission replaced with an Ombudsman/Deputy Ombudsman model to ensure that the body has a clear and publicly identifiable head.
The office holders will be appointed by the President on the nomination of Government and following a selection process undertaken by the Public Appointments Service.
The independence of the Ombudsman will be reinforced by giving it its own Vote for the first time and giving the responsibilities of accounting officer to a new CEO to free up the Ombudsman to focus on investigation and oversight work.
Key changes under the Bill include:
- an expanded remit of the Ombudsman to include garda staff (unsworn members) for the first time – this expansion will occur in tandem with the making of a ministerial order changing the status of existing garda staff from that of civil servants. Prior consultation with staff representative bodies is required
- requiring all complaints (other than minor service level type complaints) to be investigated by the Ombudsman
- increased independent oversight of the handling and investigation of allegations of wrongdoing that are not the subject of a complaint and which are normally investigated by the An Garda Síochána itself – the Garda Commissioner will be required to notify the Ombudsman of such “incidents of concern” and the Ombudsman will decide what action to take including whether he/she should launch an investigation into allegations of a criminal nature
- an expansion of the existing obligation on the Garda Commissioner to refer “death or serious harm” incidents to the Ombudsman to clearly include all allegations of sexual offences and also allegations of abuse of power for sexual purpose
- empowering the Garda Commissioner to refer a matter of concern to the Ombudsman where the Commissioner believes it to be in the public interest to do so
- introducing a new streamlined, simplified approach to investigations while ensuring appropriate safeguards to protect the individual’s right to fair procedures and natural justice
- empowering the Ombudsman when reporting on an investigation to include recommendations for systemic change with an obligation for An Garda Síochána to respond
Under the Bill the governance of An Garda Síochána will be strengthened through empowering the Garda Commissioner, as the “true CEO”, to lead the organisation and drive reform and the establishment of the Board of An Garda Síochána.
The Garda Commissioner will:
- continue to be responsible for running the organisation
- exercise functions equivalent to the CEO of many state agencies, including in relation to workforce planning, HR, industrial relations and finance
- be accountable to the new Garda Board for the performance of his or her functions
- be accountable to the PAC as accounting officer and to other Oireachtas Committees
- discharge obligations in relation to assisting and cooperating with the strengthened oversight bodies
- have explicit operational independence from Government and the Board
The Board will comprise 9 members including a chairperson, appointed by the Minister following a selection process undertaken by PAS. Members of the Board will be required to have sufficient experience and expertise in matters connected with the functions of An Garda Síochána, matters of organisational governance, management, public administration or financial matters to enable him or her to make a substantial contribution to the performance of An Garda Síochána.
As the “CEO” the Garda Commissioner will report to the Board and be held accountable by it for his or her performance. In line with current corporate governance practice, the Commissioner will not be a member of the Board which will be accountable to the Minister for its performance and will be required to inform the Minister of any matters that it considers require the Minister’s attention.
The Garda Commissioner will continue to be required to keep the Minister and the Secretary General of the department informed of significant matters and to account to the Minister and Government for policing and security matters as needs be.
The Garda Board will:
- through the expertise and external perspective of its members, provide practical support along with robust, constructive challenge to the senior leadership team in An Garda Síochána
- strengthen decision making and planning, and supporting the organisation in becoming more agile and adaptive
The Bill makes explicit the roles and responsibilities of the Board and the Garda Commissioner in regard to protecting and vindicating the human rights of individuals.
The new governance and oversight framework for policing is tailored to the status of An Garda Síochána as the national policing and security service and the special requirements that must pertain to certain information held by the organisation.
The Bill will deliver an independent, impartial, best practice system of making appointments to An Garda Síochána that includes more opportunities for open recruitment and brings greater alignment between the recruitment of garda members and garda staff.
The process of selecting persons for appointment to senior Garda ranks will be done independently by the Public Appointments Service. As now, and in keeping with the Constitution, the government will formally appoint the Garda Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners who will be selected through open competitions run by PAS, which may include representatives of the Garda Board, the new Authority.
The Garda Board will approve the appointment of Assistant Commissioners and chief superintendents (which again will be run by PAS) – the Board will also approve the appointment of senior garda staff.
Superintendents, sergeants and inspectors will be appointed by the Garda Commissioner in accordance with regulations and public sector recruitment standards and processes.
The Board will also have a specific function to ensure that appropriate arrangements for the recruitment, appointment, training, development and performance management of members of garda personnel that comply with best practice are in place.
Having regard to the recognition by CoFPI and the Disclosures Tribunal that the existing discipline system needs an overhaul the Bill will enable the replacement of the existing discipline system for members of An Garda Síochána with new, simplified arrangements that distinguish between unsatisfactory performance /poor attendance and misconduct.
Under the Bill:
- new garda staff will be appointed by the Garda Commissioner
- new senior members of garda staff will be appointed by the Garda Commissioner with the approval of the Board
- new garda staff will be public servants recruited in accordance with the Public Service Management (Recruitment and Appointment) Act 2004. Their terms and conditions of employment will be determined by the Garda Commissioner with the necessary ministerial consents
- provision is made for existing garda staff members to become public servants and part of a single garda workforce. No change in their civil service status will occur on the enactment of the Bill. Any change of such status is subject to the making of a designation order by the Minister which must be preceded by consultation with trade unions or staff associations representing such the staff. The terms and conditions of such staff are safeguarded in the Bill
The primary function of the Independent Examiner will be to keep under review the operation and effectiveness of security legislation to ensure security legislation remains necessary and fit for purpose, and contains appropriate safeguards for protecting human rights.
The Independent Examiner will also have a general examination function in relation to the delivery of security services; and those State offices and agencies who have a security remit will be obliged to cooperate with the Examiner in the performance of his or her duties.
The Bill also provides that the Independent Examiner will review refusals of information to policing oversight bodies on grounds of the security of the State and where the oversight bodies wish to appeal that decision.
The Independent Examiner will also assume the existing oversight roles carried out by designated judges (currently serving High Court judges) relating to the operation of the statutory frameworks for data retention, interception of communications and surveillance.
The Independent Examiner will report annually to the Taoiseach, and the report will be laid before the Oireachtas. The Independent Examiner will also produce other subject matter reports as necessary for publication.
The Independent Examiner will help promote public confidence in national security measures and enhance the national security response.
Ireland is unique in that it does not have a discrete internal security service. An Garda Síochána performs a dual role in providing both policing and security functions. The Office of the Independent Examiner will complement the oversight arrangements in place with regard to policing functions.