The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill 2023 implements a number of key recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) and will come into force later this year.

The existing oversight function of the Policing Authority and the functions of the Garda Inspectorate will be combined under the bill into a newly-established An tÚdarás Póilíneachta agus Sábháilteachta Pobail (Policing and Community Safety Authority).

The bill also establishes a new independent examiner of security legislation which aims to ensure confidence in the effectiveness and proportionality of security measures.

Justice minister Helen 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.”