Minister McEntee welcomes passage of landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill

The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, has welcomed the passing of the landmark Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 through its final stages in Dáil Éireann.

The Bill gives effect to a Programme for Government commitment and forms part of the wider policing reform programme called A Policing Service for our Future, published by Government in December 2018 to implement the recommendations of the Report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. This report was a comprehensive examination of all aspects of policing including all functions carried out by An Garda Síochána and the totality of the policing oversight, governance and accountability arrangements.

The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill will:

• make community safety a whole of government and multi-agency responsibility;

• strengthen and consolidate independent, external oversight of An Garda Síochána;

• enhance the internal governance of An Garda Síochána by establishing a new non-executive board, Bord an Gharda Síochána, which is a corporate governance standard across the public and private sectors;

• strengthen independent review of security legislation and the delivery of security services by providing for the establishment of an Independent Examiner of Security Legislation.

Speaking today following the passage of the Bill, Minister McEntee said:

"I am delighted to see the passage of this vital Bill through the Oireachtas. This Bill is the result of an enormous amount of research and collaborative work with the aim of developing a new approach to ensuring modern and dynamic policing in Ireland.

“Every community in Ireland has a right to be safe and, importantly, to feel safe and that has always been my main focus as Minister for Justice.

“This Bill recognises that responsibility for community safety does not rest with An Garda Síochána alone but requires other government departments and State agencies to work together. Importantly, this legislation has communities at its heart, recognising that it is the people living in a community who know that community best.

"It also recognises that certain problems may be better addressed by education, intervention programmes and other solutions, instead of just a policing response alone.”

The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland identified that much of the work of Gardaí relates to the non-crime activity of preventing harm to people with addiction or mental health conditions, resolving issues for those who are homeless, the elderly, children and others at risk. The prevention of harm will be a specific statutory objective of An Garda Síochána recognising the vital work Gardaí do on the ground every day in communities around the country.

Crucially, in tandem with this, the Bill will also 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.

The Bill will achieve this 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;

• rolling out innovative Local Community Safety Partnerships across the country to develop local safety plans tailored to the priorities and needs identified by communities themselves.

The Local Community Safety Partnerships (LCSPs) 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. Three pilot LCSP schemes have been running since 2021 in Dublin’s North Inner City, Waterford and Longford. Their successes and learnings have informed the drafting of the Bill and the plans for the rollout of the LCSPs across the country.

The Bill will also introduce stronger independent external oversight of An Garda Síochána through the establishment of An tÚdarás Póilíneachta agus Sábháilteachta Pobail (the new Policing and Community Safety Authority), which will combine the existing oversight function of the Policing Authority and the functions of the Garda Inspectorate.

A reformed police complaints body - Fiosrú – Oifig an Ombudsman Póilíneachta (the new office of the Police Ombudsman) will be established to replace GSOC and reformed processes and procedures will be put in place relating to the handling of complaints and the conduct of investigations into allegations of wrong doing on the part of members of Garda personnel.

The Bill will also support the internal capacity of An Garda Síochána to manage itself effectively, deliver reform, increase diversity, and improve outcomes for communities.

This enhanced internal governance will:

• allow the new Garda Board, through the expertise and external perspective of its members, to 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 a more agile and adaptive;

• make explicit the roles and responsibilities of the Board and the Garda Commissioner in regard to protecting and vindicating the human rights of individuals.

Referring to the establishment of the Board the Minister said:

"It makes sense that an organisation of the size and complexity of An Garda Síochána which has a budget of €2.35bn in 2024 would have a non – statutory board and the establishment of the board will bring many benefits to the service.

“As well as providing strategic support to An Garda Síochána in responding 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 Board will not have any role in relation to operational matters, as is the case with such boards generally.

"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 and various complexities that comes with that."

The legislation 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 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.”

“Significant work has been ongoing and will continue within the Department on arrangements for the introduction of these vast reforms, establishing new bodies, the appointment of the necessary office holders, the preparation of secondary legislation and other transitional requirements.

“It is a mammoth task and I would particularly like to thank the existing and current policing stakeholders involved in the planning for implementation of this Bill, for their co-operation – An Garda Síochána, the Policing Authority, the Inspectorate, GSOC and others, who continue to work with my officials to ensure that this Bill can be commenced as soon as possible later this year”.

ENDS…/