THE ASSOCIATION OF Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) will tell an Oireachtas committee today that the new Policing Bill will “create confusion and cause a lack of clarity” for gardaí, blurring the lines of accountability and responsibility.
AGSI will also tell the Justice Committee that the Bill does not provide the “clear vision for policing” as envisaged by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) report, published in 2018.
Proposals were accepted by Cabinet for the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill in April 2021, paving the way for a major revamp of national security and policing.
The government put forward the Bill in order to increase accountability and performance of the gardaí as well as to improve the complaints procedure.
However, it has been accused of granting excessive powers to oversight bodies managing gardaí, with some superintendents saying it grants the Garda Ombudsman and Policing Authority “almost draconian” powers.
AGSI will tell the committee that it believes the Bill raises serious concerns about “the constitutional, human and employment rights of the members we represent”.
It will say an absence of fair procedure towards Gardaí is evident in the new powers proposed for the Office of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman (formerly GSOC) to such an extent that they the force will face “a raft of legal and constitutional challenges” relating to matters contained within the Bill.
It will also tell the committee that the extended powers proposed to be granted to GSOC are without proper justification, and that they believe that these powers will encroach on the legal, constitutional and privacy rights of members of AGSI.
AGSI will also raise concerns about a proposed Board, which they feel appears to be lacking in independence and “any realistic degree of separation from the operational aspect of policing in this jurisdiction”.
“We have a substantial unease at the potential, perhaps non-intentional, to populate the Board with political contacts and associates. This could have grave outcomes in terms of politicisation, resulting in minimal transparency in terms of separation of powers and stymying policing independence.”
Representatives from Fórsa will also speak at the committee, where they will say that union members are “extremely annoyed, frustrated and perplexed” at the prospect of having their terms and conditions unilaterally changed through the proposed legislation.
They will say it is absolutely clear that the vast majority of their members in An Garda Síochána are “angered” at the lack of consultation on the Bill, which will “directly and negatively impact on their terms and conditions as civil servants”.
They will also tell the committee that the proposal that the Garda Commissioner take sole responsibility for staff will change the status of members from civil servants to public servants, something they feel is “neither appropriate nor warranted”.
Fórsa will say that a proper engagement structure should be put in place to enable “much needed dialogue” between the Department of Justice, Representative Unions and An Garda Síochána prior to any legislation being contemplated.
“It must also be noted that the Garda Commissioner himself is also of that view.”
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