Judge Rory MacCabe

The policing watchdog has published a detailed set of observations on the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 ahead of its planned introduction to the Dáil later this month.

While welcoming the proposal to replace GSOC with a new Office of the Police Ombudsman, the draft legislation “has not fully embraced the principle of institutional independence that should underpin an Ombudsman institution”, it says.

GSOC said the bill continues to impose a degree of Ministerial involvement in the governance and operations of the new ombudsman which is inconsistent with the institutional independence envisioned by the Commission on the Future of Policing or by the Council of Europe’s “Venice Principles”.

It also restated concerns that the draft legislation does not require An Garda Síochána to cooperate fully and promptly with the Police Ombudsman, and emphasised the imperative of proper resourcing if the ombudsman is to be capable of fulfilling its expanded mandate.

Judge Rory MacCabe, chairperson of GSOC, said: “This bill is a significant step forward in addressing a clearly-defined and long-signalled gap in Ireland’s policing accountability infrastructure.

“GSOC is, however, concerned that if the fundamental issues of institutional independence we have raised are not addressed, the bill will fall short of the vision of independent civilian oversight which is core to the policing reform process currently underway.

“If the expansion of the new Police Ombudsman’s role is not matched by a commensurate increase in the resources needed, the ability of the new Ombudsman to deliver the service that the legislation envisages will be compromised. Failure to resource the new body properly in effect sets it up to fail.

“GSOC will continue to work with stakeholders in the justice sector as the bill makes its way through the Oireachtas.”