At its first meeting yesterday (Thursday 28 January), the Policing Authority identified its business priorities, established some Committees of the Authority to advance its statutory functions and discussed the Policing Plan for 2016 with Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan.

The Policing Authority, established with effect from 1 January 2016, is an important part of the Government’s overall justice reform programme. The significance of its introduction was emphasised by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Ms. Frances Fitzgerald TD when she paid a courtesy visit to greet the Authority members and staff and to wish them well in their important work.

At their first meeting, Authority members identified immediate business priorities and put arrangements in place to deal with them including:

• Putting the establishment of the Authority on a sound footing by continuing the recruitment of staff, establishing internal processes and procedures and other practical matters;
• Establishing three Authority’s approach to the process of drafting a Garda Code of Ethics and to oversee the preparation of a Code within 12 months;

Committees of the Authority:

1. A Policing Strategy and Performance Committee, chaired by Judith Gillespie, to develop a framework to enable the Authority to fulfil its statutory responsibilities in overseeing Garda performance in relation to policing, including preparation for the next Garda Strategy Statement;
2. A Code of Ethics Committee, chaired by Pat Costello, to develop the
3. An Appointments Committee, chaired by Valerie Judge, to develop Authority policy and oversee the preparations for the commencement of the legal provisions which will make the Policing Authority the appointing authority for senior ranks and civilian positions in the Garda Síochána. The Authority is keen to advance this work very quickly.

• Agreeing a schedule of plenary meetings for 2016 and deciding that the Authority’s first public meeting will be on 14 March 2016.

Meeting with the Garda Commissioner

The Policing Plan 2016 which was laid before the Oireachtas on 14 January 2016 was the main agenda item for the Authority’s first meeting with the Garda Commissioner and Deputy Commissioners. The Authority welcomed the Commissioner’s presentation of the Plan. There was very useful discussion and explanation of the processes and inputs to the development of the Plan, during which the Commissioner explained that inputs to the plan were sought from Gardaí, staff, stakeholders and victims’ representative groups.

In future, the Policing Plan will be approved by the Authority, which will also be considering policing priorities, resources and performance targets. In this context, members were keen to have a deeper engagement with the Commissioner and her senior team to better understand how the Policing Plan cascades throughout the Garda Síochána and how performance is managed. This work will be taken forward quickly by the Policing Strategy and Performance Committee.

Commissioner O'Sullivan also set out her vision for a much transformed Garda Síochána in the future. The Authority looks forward to overseeing policing performance during that journey and to working with the Garda Síochána towards better policing in Ireland in the interests of the community as a whole.

Speaking after the meeting, Policing Authority Chairperson, Josephine Feehily said:

“Effective policing is crucially important for any society. In order to be effective, it must enjoy a very high standard of public confidence. Our job in the Authority is essentially to enhance public confidence by independently overseeing the performance of the Garda Síochána in relation to policing. There are many aspects to oversight of performance and to enhancing public confidence and Garda accountability needs to be seen in a broad context which recognises those things that work very well as well as those which could work better.

It will take time for the Authority to establish itself fully but we are determined to move as quickly as possible on some critically important changes, such as discussing policing performance with the Garda Commissioner in public so that citizens can more easily hear about the work being done by the Gardaí, taking responsibility for senior appointments and establishing a Garda Code of Ethics as required by law.

I am privileged to be joined on the Authority by experienced and distinguished colleagues to begin our work. Their commitment and enthusiasm convinces me that we can advance our first set of business priorities quickly.

The Authority conveyed to the Commissioner its appreciation of the work of members Garda Síochána throughout the country and noted that in this week of the anniversary of the death of Garda Adrian Donohoe it was timely to remind ourselves of the risks Gardaí face every day on our behalf and to thank them.”