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Address by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances
Fitzgerald TD, at the Garda Passing Out Parade
The Garda College, Templemore
24 April 2017
Commissioner, distinguished guests, and of course our new members of An
Garda Síochána.
It is a great honour to be standing here today to congratulate you on
realising your ambition of becoming a proud member of An Garda Síochána.
It is a day to applaud your achievement in successfully completing 32 weeks
of challenging and rigorous training during which you have accomplished the
many skills required to deliver a 21st century policing service to the
people of Ireland.
It is a proud day for your family and friends who have supported you on
your journey and who are here today to witness your success and to
celebrate this significant milestone in your career as a member of An Garda
Síochána.
It is equally a proud day for this country to have 143 men and women
answering the call to public service to support the mission of An Garda
Síochána to protect and serve.
You are entering An Garda Síochána at a critical time in the almost
100-year history of our police service. Recent controversies, if not fully
addressed, have the very real potential to undermine the traditional strong
public trust that An Garda Síochána has enjoyed since the foundation of the
State. Trust in policing is a cornerstone of any democracy and, once
broken, is difficult to restore. But all of us who are ambitious for the
future of policing in Ireland are determined that this will not happen.
And I know you are ambitious for policing in Ireland and are focused on
supporting the transformation of An Garda Síochána into the world-class
professional policing service that we all know it can to be.
There is a programme of major reform underway based on the reports of the
Garda Inspectorate. It is being progressed through the Commissioner’s
Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021 under the oversight of the
independent Policing Authority.
In tandem with the reform programme the Government has in place a plan to
achieve an overall Garda workforce of 21,000 personnel by 2021 comprising
15,000 Garda members, 2,000 Reserve members and 4,000 civilians. A
recruitment campaign for the Garda Reserve has recently closed and I am
pleased to say that it received a strong response.
The moratorium on recruitment of trainee Gardaí introduced in 2010 resulted
in a significant reduction in the strength of An Garda Síochána but we are
now rebuilding the organisation and providing the Commissioner with the
resources she needs to allow her to implement her reform programme. You are
the second of five classes of Garda trainees that will attest this year. In
all 2017 will see 900 trainees become members of An Garda Síochána. This
will bring Garda numbers, taking account of projected retirements, to
around the 13,500 mark by year end, an increase of 500 from the end of 2016
– this is real progress on the road to 15,000 members.
This investment is people is backed by substantial investment in critical
information technology including mobile technology to ensure that Gardaí
are not tied to stations but are engaging with communities, and other
facilities including the fleet and stations.
As members of An Garda Síochána you will face many challenges in the course
of your day-to-day work. Nobody should underestimate the responsibility you
have accepted in undertaking to protect and serve our communities. You will
require a wide range of attributes and skills to fulfil your duty including
empathy and compassion when dealing with victims of crime and their
families at times of great distress, and courage and conviction to face
down the many dangerous situations you will encounter such as when a gun is
produced or a knife raised. You will also require courage in other areas
- to say “No” if an instruction is wrong,
- to shout “Stop” to a practice that may have been going on forever, but
that should cease right there and then,
- to embrace and contribute to reform at all levels.
Of course this requires that managers at all ranks must also demonstrate
courage and leadership by positively influencing your working environment
through encouraging open dialogue and discussion as the norm.
Earlier this year I launched a Code of Ethics for An Garda Síochána
developed by the Policing Authority.
It is not management speak or more bureaucracy. It is a statement of the
ethical requirements for you and everyone working in An Garda Síochána and
sets out norms of behaviour that the public are entitled to expect, and so
expect.
Policing is an honourable profession of which the public expect the highest
standards of conduct and practice.
Every member of An Garda Síochána at every level of the organisation must
adhere to standards of conduct and practice set out in the Code to guide
and inform your actions.
We are at a crucial time in determining the future of policing in this
country.
The bond between An Garda Síochána and the community depends on trust and
confidence.
You will play an important role in your community and it is precisely
because the service you will provide is so vital, so important to the
wellbeing of every citizen and our society as a whole, that you must ensure
it is delivered to the very highest of standards.
As An Garda Síochána approaches its 100th anniversary Ireland is a very
different country than it was at its foundation. It is facing challenges
rooted in the rapidly changing nature of society and of crime. In these
circumstances it is, I believe, right that we take a step back to ask some
fundamental questions about how our State should be policed in the future,
what structures are appropriate, to whom should it be accountable, what
sort of culture should it embody. With this in mind, the Government has
agreed in principle to establish an independent Commission on the future of
policing and I published draft terms of reference before Easter for
consultation with other parties. Those terms of reference are aimed at
facilitating a comprehensive and thoroughgoing review of all aspects of
policing. Such a Commission will allow a mix of Irish and international
people of expertise and experience to bring their judgment to bear on one
of the most important institutions we have as a nation. It will provide an
opportunity for the country to have an honest discussion about how we are
to be policed over the coming decades.
To conclude, I hope that each and every one of you contribute in your own
unique way to helping An Garda Síochána evolve and grow in a way that can
bring great pride to you as individuals, to the organisation and to the
country that you have vowed to serve.
I know the road ahead will be challenging but I am also confident that it
will be rewarding.
Each of you leaves here with great enthusiasm, hopes and ambitions for the
future. I ask that you use this energy to deliver a policing service we can
all be proud of.
I wish you the best of luck and wisdom in your career and I hope you all
have a great day with your family and friends.