Dáil Motion on Exercise by the State of the option under Article 4 of
Protocol No. 21 annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty
on the Functioning of the European Union in respect of EU Regulation
2015/2219 on CEPOL
- 21 July 2016
A Cheann Comhairle,
I am very pleased to present this motion to the House today. It gives me an
opportunity to describe the service provided by CEPOL and highlight the
benefit it brings to An Garda Síochána.
The motion, if passed, will allow Ireland to exercise its right under
Protocol 21 of the Treaty to opt-in to the EU Regulation on CEPOL.
CEPOL is the European police college which was established in 2005. It
brings together senior police officers from across the EU and aims to
encourage cross-border co-operation in the fight against crime and the
maintenance of public security and law and order through training and
exchange programmes and the sharing of research and best practice.
Since 2005, An Garda Síochána has played an important part in CEPOL EU
Training by organising course in the Garda College for participants from EU
Member States to attend. These include training programmes on language
development, human rights, community policing, confiscation of assets and
counterfeit medicines. The expertise of members of An Garda Síochána has
proven beneficial to CEPOL programmes through their involvement in training
programmes in other Member States on a wide variety of policing topics
including management, public order and crowd management, Schengen,
counterfeit goods, organised crime and drugs issues. In more recent times,
CEPOL has provided training programmes to address emerging policing and
security issues such as fundamentalism and immigration.
As a result, CEPOL has been successful in terms of developing the talents
of our Garda Síochána and their ability to network and co-operate with
other European counterparts. As we can see from the almost daily terrorist
attacks which have begun to define the world we live in, terrorism and
organised crime are emerging and constantly changing form and means. The
sharing of good practice, prevention techniques and use of modern tools to
address these threats are vital in our efforts to protect citizens and
combat crime.
The new CEPOL Regulation, which replaced the 2005 Council Decision, was
introduced to enhance CEPOL’s operational mandate and reforms its
governance in line with general principles laid down in the Lisbon Treaty.
The general aim of the Regulation is to improve EU security through the
implementation by CEPOL of a new training approach for EU law enforcement
officers consistent with evolving priorities for operational law
enforcement cooperation. Moreover, the Regulation has widened the target
group of law enforcement officials that CEPOL should serve as well as
expanding its research function and association with relevant bodies.
The Regulation was drafted on the basis of the EU Commission’s
Communication on the Law Enforcement Training Scheme known as the LETS. The
LETS aims to make the EU’s response to common security challenges more
effective, to raise the standard of policing across the EU and to stimulate
the development of a common law enforcement culture as a means of enhancing
mutual trust and cooperation.
In this regard, the Regulation identifies and addresses gaps in existing
law enforcement training on cross-border matters by supporting and, where
appropriate, coordinating the delivery of training by European and national
centres of excellence. The Regulation provides CEPOL with the appropriate
legal mandate and necessary resources to implement the training effort
envisaged in the Communication.
In addition, the scope of CEPOL’s mandate is broadened so that it can
support, develop, deliver and coordinate learning activities for law
enforcement officials of all ranks, not only police officers of senior rank
as is the case under the old CEPOL Decision, as well as to officers of
customs and of other relevant services dealing with cross-border issues.
This means if we opt-in our customs officials will also be able to benefit
from the training provided.
Perhaps equally as valuable, the Regulation ensures that the Agency remains
network-based, bringing together the network of training institutes of the
Member States for the law enforcement officials and liaising with a single
National unit in each Member State. This, as I’m sure Deputies will
appreciate, will allow An Garda Síochána to continue to build networks of
counterparts in other EU jurisdictions which can be used for other
operational intelligence sharing outside of the CEPOL framework.
Furthermore, the core objectives of CEPOL were updated and clarified so
that the Agency may improve awareness and knowledge of International and
European Union instruments, the institutions, agencies and bodies of the
European Union. It will now also encourage the development of the regional
or bilateral cooperation among the Member States and address specific
criminal or policing thematic areas where training at EU level can add
value in addition to the national level.
In summary, the Regulation expands and provides clarity on the role of
CEPOL and improves governance in the management, accountability and
procedures for the CEPOL Secretariat and the Member States involved in
police training.
For all these reasons, I hope you can agree that Ireland’s participation in
the Regulation, will be of tremendous value to An Garda Síochána and our
customs service. It will also send a clear message that Ireland continues
to support CEPOL and values the service it provides. The Regulation came
into effect on 1 July 2016 so it is important that we signal our desire to
participate as soon as possible to ensure that An Garda Síochána continue
to be part of CEPOL and benefit from the service it provides.
Deputies will be mindful of the importance of training for our law
enforcement agencies. The Garda Inspectorate in its report on the future
of policing in Ireland from 2007, indicated that historically Police
Services have dedicated substantial resources to recruit training but did
not invest appropriately in the long-term professional development of
personnel. Indeed the recently published Garda Síochána Modernisation and
Renewal Programme 2016-2021 identifies ‘Training and Development’ as a key
requirement in developing a modern, efficient police service. It stresses
that training is critical to the success of the modernisation programme.
CEPOL can continue to provide a valuable service in this regard.
To conclude, I strongly believe that continued participation in CEPOL will
provide huge benefit to An Garda Síochána and Customs at no cost to the
Irish Exchequer.
Deputies, simply put, I can see no reason why Ireland would not wish to
participate in this Regulation. It is clear from all the reasons I’ve
presented that CEPOL delivers tangible benefits to our law enforcement
agencies. As such, I invite you to support the motion before you. In doing
so we will allow our Police Force to continue to benefit from the
invaluable training provided by CEPOL and to learn from and engage with
other European partners to assist in the fight against crime.
Thank you,