Move to set up security body
A new parliamentary committee dedicated to policing and security may be established in Leinster House in the New Year.
Responsibility for this crucial area of government policy is currently covered by the Oireachtas Justice Committee which also straddles issues such as equality, defence and women’s rights.
However Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is expected to propose to the Cabinet in coming weeks that a separate all-party body of suitably selected TDs and Senators is needed to discuss legislative reform in this rapidly-changing area.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy and senior officers will be expected to appear before the new committee at regular intervals as well as members of the new Garda Ombudsman Commission.
Sources close to the Tánaiste said that a dedicated all-party committee was essential to review progress in new policy areas such as Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and the Garda Reserve force.
One official said: “It is unusual in a modern democracy that justice, which has its own government department, is actually lumped in with women’s rights and defence at committee level.
“In the House of Commons, there is a dedicated Home Affairs Committee with a specific role and function for that area.”
Reconfiguring the long-established Oireachtas Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Fianna Fail TD Sean Ardagh, may require legislative changes.
Setting up a dedicated all-party body on policing may also help restore public confidence in the Government’s measures against organised crime, which took a battering with a recent spate in gun murders.
There have been 62 violent deaths since January, including 26 gun-killings – the largest number in almost a decade.
