The Garda Commissioner is to face regular scrutiny before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee over the handling of his budget. The proposal will be incorporated in new legislation aimed at increasing the performance and accountability of the Garda.
The proposals, announced yesterday by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, form a key element of the Government's planned shake-up of the force following recent scandals.
The proposals, to be incorporated into law within the next six months, include the transferring of financial accountability for the Garda, currently held by the secretary general of the Department of Justice, to the Commissioner.
As accounting officer, the Commissioner will be "directly accountable" to the Public Accounts Committee and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General for his spending functions, according to a joint Garda/ministerial report on the proposals.
Among the other changes proposed is the publication of annual Garda policing plans, which will inform people of services and standards they can expect, and provide a means of monitoring the force's performance.
The plans will be prepared by the Commissioner and submitted to the Minister for approval prior to publication.
The report said the Minister's "policing priorities for the year concerned" would be taken account of and would be finalised only after consultation with representatives of Government and non-government organisations.
Another initiative is the proposed establishment of a policy and planning forum, on which an assistant secretary of the Department and a Deputy or Assistant Garda Commissioner would sit.
It is planned the forum would meet every two to three months to oversee the implementation of corporate strategy, policing plans and performance indicators.
The joint report published yesterday, "Performance and Accountability Review", is based on the recommendations of a Garda Strategic Management Initiative steering committee, comprising members of the private and public sector, including senior personnel from the Department and Garda.
It also reaffirms the Government's commitment to the establishment of a Garda Inspectorate.
Mr McDowell said the report had been approved by Government, and a Bill based on its recommendations would hopefully be published in the first quarter of next year.
"Both [the Garda Commissioner\] Pat Byrne and I are of the same view that we should not await the outcome of the tribunals or investigations before pressing ahead with Garda reform. If the legislation is published early next year, I would hope by the end of 2003 we would be approaching the implementation of this," he said. The Minister said the review had begun some time ago, and was "not a response to the most acute issues" arising from the Donegal or Abbeylara inquiries.
The Garda Commissioner welcomed the review and said this process had been ongoing for a number of years and he was "very supportive" of it.
Fine Gael's justice spokesman Mr John Deasy said the review "makes a lot of sense in itself". However, he said, it was "worthless unless you back the police force with more resources".
Describing the proposals as welcome but "overdue", Labour's spokesman on justice, Mr Pat Rabbitte, said: "It's a very good discipline for the Garda Commissioner to have to appear before an office of the House, and no less than the taxpayer is entitled to."
Certain proposals have already been implemented, including the recruitment of a civilian director of finance for the Garda Síochána, who with a team of accountants will support the Commissioner in his new role as accounting officer.
The report said: "Maintaining public confidence is vital to the success of the Garda Síochána and therefore, even more than other public bodies, the Garda must be seen to be fully accountable through the democratic structures of the State for the powers and resources conferred upon it."
