Garda Organisation

Table of Contents

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2007

PART 7

Amendment of Garda Síochána Act 2005

Establishment and functions of Garda Síochána Executive Management Board.

41.— The Act of 2005 is amended by the insertion of the following Chapter after section 33:

“Chapter 3A

Establishment and functions of Garda Síochána Executive Management Board

Establishment day.

33A.— The Minister shall, by order, appoint a day to be the establishment day for the purposes of this Chapter.

Establishment of Garda Síochána Executive Management Board.

33B.— On the establishment day, a body to be known as An Bord Bainistíochta Feidhmiúcháin an Gharda Síochána or, in the English language, the Garda Síochána Executive Management Board (in this Chapter referred to as “the Board”) stands established to perform the function assigned to it by this Chapter.

Membership of Board.

33C.— (1) The Board consists of—

(a) executive members who are responsible for performing the Board’s function, and

(b) 3 non-executive members, who participate in an advisory capacity in relation to the performance of that function.

(2) The executive members of the Board are—

(a) the Garda Commissioner, who is its chairperson,

(b) the Deputy Garda Commissioners, and

(3) The non-executive members of the Board are persons who are not serving or former members of the Garda Síochána or its civilian staff.

(4) At least one of the non-executive members of the Board shall be a woman and at least one of them shall be a man.

Appointment, etc., of non-executive members.

33D.— (1) The non-executive members of the Board shall—

(a) be appointed by the Government on the nomination of the Minister,

(b) be persons who have expertise in the strategic and financial management of organisations, the management of their human resources or the planning and review functions relating to them or have other relevant experience, and

(c) serve on the Board in a non-executive capacity to provide advice in relation to annual policing plans, budgetary matters, allocation of resources, technology, equipment, setting of targets, training, development and leadership and other related matters.

(2) Subject to subsection (5), a non-executive member holds office for a period of 4 years and is eligible for re-appointment for a second term.

(3) The terms and conditions of appointment of non-executive members, including those relating to remuneration, shall be determined by the Minister in consultation with the Minister for Finance.

(4) A non-executive member may at any time resign his or her office by letter addressed to the Minister, and the resignation takes effect on the date of receipt of the letter.

(5) A non-executive member may be removed from office by the Government for stated reasons or if in the opinion of the Government the member has become incapable through ill health or incapacity of effectively performing the duties of the office.

(6) Whenever the number of non-executive members falls below 3, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by appointment in accordance with subsection (1).

(7) A non-executive member who is appointed to fill a vacancy holds office for the remainder of the term of office of the replaced member.

(8) The Board may act notwithstanding any such vacancy or any resulting non-compliance with section 33C(4).

(9) A person ceases to be a non-executive member as soon as he or she—

(a) is nominated as a member of Seanad Éireann,

(b) is elected as a member of either House of the Oireachtas or of the European Parliament,

(c) is regarded pursuant to Part XIII of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 as having been elected to the European Parliament to fill a vacancy, or

(d) becomes a member of a local authority.

Function of Board.

33E.— (1) The function of the Board is to keep under review the performance by the Garda Síochána of its functions and the arrangements and strategies in place to support and enhance the performance of those functions.

(2) In particular, the Board shall keep under review the adequacy of—

(a) the performance by the Garda Síochána of its functions,

(b) the arrangements and strategies in place to support and enhance that performance,

(d) the arrangements for the recruitment, training and development of the members and civilian staff of the Garda Síochána, and

(e) the mechanisms in place within the Garda Síochána for the measurement of performance and accountability of such members and staff.

Provision of information to non-executive members by Garda Commissioner.

33F.— The Garda Commissioner shall make available to the non-executive members of the Board any information which is relevant to the performance of their functions.

Reports to Minister.

33G.— (1) The Board shall furnish to the Minister, at six-monthly intervals, a report on the performance of its function.

(2) The Minister shall cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after its receipt.

Saving.

33H.— The performance by the Board of its function is without prejudice to, and in no way limits, the performance by the Garda Commissioner of his or her functions under section 26 or his or her accountability for the direction, control, management and operational efficiency of the Garda Síochána.”.

Special inquiries relating to Garda Síochána.

42.— The Act of 2005 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 42:

“Special inquiries relating to Garda Síochána.

42.— (1) The Minister, with respect to any matter considered by him or her to be of public concern, may by order appoint a person to—

(a) inquire into any aspect of administration, operation, practice or procedure of the Garda Síochána, or the conduct of its members, and

(b) make a report to the Minister on the conclusion of the inquiry.

(2) A person who, in the Minister’s opinion, has the experience, qualifications, training or expertise appropriate for the inquiry may be appointed to conduct the inquiry.

(3) The Minister shall specify the terms of reference of the inquiry in the order under subsection (1) and may, by order, made at any time before the submission of the final report, amend those terms for the purpose of clarifying, limiting or extending the scope of the inquiry.

(4) For the purpose of the inquiry, the appointed person—

(a) may require a member of the Garda Síochána, or any other person, who possesses information or possesses or controls a document or thing that is relevant to the inquiry to provide the information, document or thing to the appointed person, and

(b) where appropriate, may require the member or other person to attend before the appointed person for that purpose.

(5) The member or other person shall co-operate with the inquiry and answer fully and truthfully any question put to him or her by the appointed person.

(6) Where the member or other person fails to comply with a requirement under subsection (4), the High Court may, on application by the appointed person and on notice to the member or other person—

(a) order the member or person to comply with the requirement, and

(b) include in the order any other provision it considers necessary to enable the order to have full effect.

(7) If the member or other person fails to comply with such an order, the Court may treat the failure for all purposes as if it were a contempt of the Court.

(8) A failure by the member to comply with a requirement under subsection (4) may be the subject of disciplinary action in accordance with the Disciplinary Regulations.

(9) Any information, document or thing provided by a person in accordance with a requirement under subsection (4) is not admissible in any criminal proceedings against the person, and this shall be explained to the person in ordinary language by the appointed person.

(10) The Minister may publish all or part of any report received under this section.

(11) This section applies even if the matter considered by the Minister to be of public concern arose before the passing of this Act.

(12) The power to order an inquiry under this Act is additional to any power conferred by this or another Act relating to inquiries or investigations.

(13) In this section—

‘appointed person’ means a person appointed under this section to conduct an inquiry;

‘criminal proceedings’ does not include disciplinary proceedings.”.

Other amendments to Act of 2005.

43.— The Act of 2005 is amended—

(a) in section 11(2), by the substitution of “, Deputy Garda Commissioner or Assistant Garda Commissioner” for “Deputy Garda Commissioner”,

(b) in section 15, by the addition of the following subsection:

“(6) A reserve member is a volunteer and does not perform his or her functions as such a member under a contract of employment.”,

(i) in subsection (1), by the insertion of “or a designated officer of the Ombudsman Commission” after “rank”, and

(ii) in subsections (3) and (4), by the insertion of “or designated officer” after “rank”,

(d) in section 44—

(i) in subsection (2)(a), by the insertion of “or a member of the civilian staff of the Garda Commissioner of a grade equivalent to that of Deputy Garda Commissioner” after “Deputy Garda Commissioner”, and

(ii) by the addition of the following subsection:

“(7) The audit committee may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy in its membership, including a vacancy that results in subsection (2) not being complied with.”,

(e) in section 47(3), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) the period beginning on 1 July 2007 and ending 3 months after that date, and”,

(f) in section 75(3)(c), by the insertion of “chairperson of the” after “the”,

(g) in section 79(10), by the insertion of “Commission” after “Ombudsman”,

(h) in section 82(2), by the substitution of “under the provisions” for “under the provision”,

(i) in section 94(7), by the substitution of “may have been committed” for “has been committed”,

(j) in section 98(1), by the deletion of “, in relation to the member of the Garda Síochána under investigation,”,

(k) in section 99(1), by the deletion of “in the prescribed form”,

(l) in section 117(6)(b), by the substitution of “with such police service or” for “with any”, and

(m) in section 122(1)(h), by the insertion of “, including the retirement ages of reserve members and other ranks in the Garda Síochána” after “members”.