Yesterday's two reports into the organisation and management of An Garda Síochána are, in effect, Patten for slow learners, writes Denis Bradley.
Two reports on the one day. Heady stuff. Both are about the internal organisation of An Garda Síochána. Both of them mapping out a radical change in the way the police service is structured and managed. Both make it very clear that the recommendations contained in them are supported by Commissioner Noel Conroy and presumably not open to discussion or debate.
Any journalist looking for a succinct way of summarising the two reports in a catchy way will refer to them as " Patten for slow learners". How things have changed.
Without breaking any confidence, I remember a rather inane discussion, a few years back, with senior members of the Department of Justice. They were looking at how things were going with the restructuring of the PSNI. They offered the opinion that the only change that would happen in their jurisdiction would be the introduction of a Garda inspectorate.
Perhaps cheekily, I expressed the strong opinion that if they thought that the introduction of an inspectorate alone was going to address the issue of policing in the Republic, they would need to think again. Civil servants are seldom cheeky but it was easy enough to tell that in another forum and in a different political climate, they might have been of the same opinion.
Change comes in many ways. Around the issue of An Garda Síochána it has come in dribs and drabs. I have lost count of the number of reports that have been issued. But there are more coming.
The Advisory Group on Garda Management and Leadership Development (the four person external advisory group recently appointed) has published an Interim Report to the Commissioner and it is peppered with references to other reports that it will soon publish. The other report is from the recently formed Garda Síochána Inspectorate. It also is about Garda senior management. They both dovetail together.
Simplistically stated, the advisory group report is the philosophical analysis of the present and future management needs of such a complex and important institution as An Garda Síochána. It is bold enough in telling the present and future commissioners how they should manage their managers. It says bluntly that the present structure of 15 people meeting monthly is inadequate and should be replaced by a more tightly-knit group meeting weekly to drive change, set targets and allocate resources. This slimmed down group will be called the board of management.
There is a tantalisingly interesting aside that suggests but does not yet propose that there should be a challenge and review capacity within this board of management. This challenge and review capacity would come from two or three persons from the private and public sector.
We shouldn't be too surprised by this. The chairman of this advisory group is Senator Maurice Hayes who was a powerful and influential member of the Patten Commission in the North.
I think Senator Hayes is subtly telling Minister for Justice Michael McDowell that a police authority, along Patten lines, would still be a good idea. The other big philosophical thrust informing both reports is the call for greater civilianisation. Let the police be the police and get on with policing .
Allow secretaries, receptionists, analysts, scene of crime officers, financial personnel and anything else that is appropriate to be made up of civilians.
To the public this would probably make good sense and would be greeted with a shrug of the shoulders. But not necessarily so if you are a member of An Garda Síochána or the Civil Service.
This was one of the most difficult areas to bring about in the PSNI. Many police officers don't mind being in the comfort and warmth of the barracks rather than out on the streets.
The Civil Service is protective of its membership. They are not that keen that the local superintendent advertises in the local press for a secretary.
This report wants everyone to be on the staff of the Commissioner rather than some under the dictate of the Civil Service.
You know there is already trouble in the undergrowth when a report goes on to say that "steps which appear to have been taken in this direction should be reversed".
The Civil Service must already have assumed that they will be the appointment authority for the civil side of policing.
There is a strong swipe also at the extent of control that currently resides in Garda headquarters.
That is not going to be the way in the future.
The regional assistant commissioners will become more central in the management and day-to-day running of the organisation.
It is also timely that the inspectorate's report goes into detail about the dangers of excessive specialisation. It wants this trend to be reversed in favour of old style beat cops.
It wants the uniformed branch to be the lifeblood of the service and it wants the six regional assistant commissioners to make this happen. In the Patten Report this was the chapter that described community policing as the foundation on which the rest of the service had to be built and not vice versa.
There are many influences driving these reports but none more so than the reality that Commissioner Conroy, one of his deputy commissioners and four assistant commissioners will all be retired within the next two years. Nearly half of the senior management will be gone within 24 months.
You can feel the urgency within the reports. There is a less than subtle hint that their replacements will not necessarily be recruited from within the present cadre of officers.
If these reports are within the spirit and culture of the Patten Report, then no one should be surprised.
Senator Hayes and Kathleen O'Toole were both members of the Patten Commission. They have talked long and hard over many years about the difficulties of policing in the 21st century.
They both know that getting the top management right is crucial to getting the other changes that are necessary.
It is not their fault that the changes are coming bit by bit and drip by drip. They have to start with things are they are and not as they might wish.
It is not that pleasant to tell men and women whom you like and admire that the existing Garda organisational structure is outdated and does not conform to best international practice. But that is the reality and for everyone's sake that must change. These two reports are an important contribution to an important institution.
The sooner that the spirit and the substance of the recommendations of these reports are achieved the better for all of Irish society.
Denis Bradley is a former deputy chairman of the Policing Board of Northern Ireland