While pointing out the positives in the Garda Bill 2003, the Association Of Garda Sergeants And Inspectors (AGSI) said tonight more provisions could be added to the Bill.
Speaking at the 26 thAGSI annual delegate conference, AGSI president, Det Sergeant Joe Dirwan said while the Bill embraced parts of the Patten report into policing in Northern Ireland, it did not include a provision for a national policing board or police authority.
Addressing the conference delegates and the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell who attended the conference, he also criticised the "political method political method of appointment and promotion for all officers from Superintendent up to Commissioner.
"We feel that such appointments, and other national functions in relation to the police, should be carried out by a police authority. We have felt for years, in the interests of the force, that appointments and promotions at all levels should be totally free of any political input whatever. Such appointments should be made independently and transparently," Det Sergeant Dirwan told the conference.
Det Sergeant Dirwan also raised a number of questions about Mr McDowell's proposals for volunteer members of the gardai in the Bill. "It takes three years to train a garda now - are these volunteers to be put on the streets with less training?" he asked. "How will they be resourced? Who will do the selection and what criteria will be laid down? How will the public perceive them? How will they relate to the general public in this country where we have no tradition of police specials? Will they have prohibited activities and will they have to follow residential restrictions as presently apply to members of An Garda Siochana?"
Det Sergeant Dirwan also proposed a scaling of penalty points for certain offences.
"If I am caught driving at 35 m.p.h. in a 30 zone, and another driver is caught doing 60 or 70 m.p.h. in the same zone, we both get two points. Would it not be much more logical to have a scale of points so that the latter driver would get four or six points to reflect the relative gravity of his offence?"
He said, in the case of the higher speeds, there should also be power of arrest. "Many people may be surprised to learn that there is no power of arrest for serious speeding," he said.