Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026 [Seanad]: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16 ============================================================ Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (SF), Cork South-Central This is an important area in terms of ensuring the legislation is properly weighted because, clearly, the power to stop and search is an important one. It is important gardaí have that capacity but it is also important the context of it and the manner in which it is used are clearly codified. This was one of the issues that arose out of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. It was recommended in 2018. I was part of drafting our submissions to that particular process, the outcome of which being that some things we agreed with and some we did not. While there were certainly a lot of positive things recommended in it, not all of them have been acted on. On the legislation previously, there were provisions in over a dozen pieces of legislation. This clarifies two clear powers to stop and search, which is important. It is important the proper balance is applied here. I will briefly make reference to the programme that will be broadcast on RTÉ tonight. I think we will all be watching carefully to see the details of that. What has emerged so far is very worrying. These are people who were acting in public interest and who were marginalised. That is a huge concern. I hope it is a huge concern for the Minister. The reality is that the vast majority of gardaí are working night and day to do the best they can both for An Garda Síochána and, more importantly, the public as a whole. Unfortunately, in instances such as this, there are concerns in relation to cultural issues as to whether dissent is properly encouraged and people raising concerns are properly encouraged. I hope the Minister will respond appropriately to that and that the Táoiseach will do so as well. There is bit to go on the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. The joint policing committees were replaced by the community safety partnerships. They have a bit to go. The model that exists in the North is more robust. There is more of a dynamic of communities ensuring accountability from police. Obviously, the context is different but there is still that dynamic. My experience of the community safety partnerships so far is that they are a positive forum but it is more of an information sharing. That information is coming from the Garda to the public and to the media. All that is helpful but I am not sure there is that same level of holding to account and that can be built on. I do not think there is any constraint to that in the legislation and more can be done. There is this issue that motions can come into it and they can be dispersed to a local area. While that is appropriate in some instances, it can mean that the meeting itself does not end up discussing the actual day-to-day operational stuff that could perhaps be beneficial. That brings me to the issue of local policing. I appreciate the Minister is, I am sure, going to say these are operational manners and it will be for the Garda Commissioner to decide. Hopefully, with legislation such as this, these debates are listened to in Phoenix Park as well. Before Christmas I welcomed the large allocation of gardaí that came to Cork. It was a break from a long trend of very small cohorts coming from Templemore. One, two or three gardaí were coming to the Cork city division. In reality, between Cork city and county - we are talking about 10% of the State's population - very often we were only getting two, five or six gardaí across the county as a whole. It was totally inadequate. In the Mahon-Blackrock Garda station, there are 17 gardaí. In 2012, there were 22 while in 2009, there were 31. There has not been any big increase in the neighbouring stations in Anglesea Street or Douglas but we have seen a reduction from 31 gardaí to 17 in that area. That is completely unacceptable. I would also like to highlight that the large cohort coming out of Templemore since has not been very significant in terms of gardaí allocation to Cork. That was part of the high-visibility policing operation. That has had a bit of success in the city centre but it needs to be expanded in the area just beyond the city centre, in the north inner city and south inner city. We are experiencing issues that need to be addressed in places like the South Parish, Greenmount, Douglas Street and Turners Cross. I know the local Garda management is very conscious of that. In any debate on these issues, I always take the opportunity to emphasise the value of local community policing. In fairness to the Cork city division, successive chief superintendents there have valued it very strongly and even in times of recession have tried to protect the community policing element. It is crucially important and that needs to be the approach right across the State. Building trust and a relationship, particularly between young people and gardaí, is crucial. It is crucial to preventing crime as well as tackling it and that is why it is important that we continue to invest in community policing. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-16