Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026 [Seanad]: Second Stage
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

Before responding to the substance of the debate, I will refer to two distinct issues that were raised by Deputies during the course of the debate. First of all, I join Deputy Ó’Murchú in expressing my condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the solicitor, James MacGuill, who died recently. James was one of the finest solicitors in the country. He was a formidable opponent and he was fearless in representing his clients. Anyone who had the privilege to do a case with James MacGuill, as I did, or indeed against him, would know of his full commitment to his client. He really was a fine example of a hard-working, diligent, conscientious solicitor. He was also very entertaining and engaging company. I will miss the mischief I always experienced when we engaged with each other.
Second, during the course of this debate, I got an update from An Garda Síochána in respect of the incident concerning our colleague and friend, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. I express my best wishes to him and wish him a speedy recovery. Any attack upon a Member of the Oireachtas because he or she is a Member of the Oireachtas is an attack on democracy. We should all resolutely stand together in this House in condemning any such attacks. People are entitled to have different views politically but what we will not tolerate is people being targeted or violence being used against them simply because they do not share the same political views as others.
I will now deal with the substance of the debate. This was a very well-informed debate from colleagues. I listened very closely to four hours of debate. I do not have the time to go through the individual comments made by the vast number of Deputies who spoke but I will refer to a number of matters in their generality.
I think every person who spoke welcomed the fact that we are codifying Garda powers. I welcome the fact there is broad agreement and a broad welcome for that. We all support An Garda Síochána in this House but it is important to acknowledge that gardaí have very considerable powers. It is important that we set out in legislation what those powers are. Historically, those powers were generated or developed through the common law or, indeed, very sparse legislative instruments. As time has gone on, it is important that the Irish public are aware that if they want to find out what powers a member of An Garda Síochána has, they will be able to look to a piece of legislation to identify that. This legislation will go a long way towards having a codification of some of those powers.
I also welcome the fact that colleagues have recognised that there are areas in respect of Garda powers that deserve to be further debated here. As I said, we had a very good debate on this legislation in Seanad Éireann over a period of five days. As I indicated in the Seanad, I am prepared to accept amendments that were brought forward in the Seanad. They will be brought forward here on Committee Stage and I have no doubt colleagues here will put forward recommendations in amendments.
A number of colleagues referred to the issue of the "RTÉ Investigates" programme tonight. I have not seen it. I regret to say that because Deputy Carthy and I are due to be in the Dáil in about two and a half hours from now, I may not get to see it. I will, hopefully, have an opportunity to look at it in advance of tomorrow. Let us all approach it without a sense of prejudice. Let us just look at the programme and see what is in it. If there are issues that I need to explain or answer, I will be only too happy to do so.
Another issue that was mentioned consistently in the debate was that of oversight of An Garda Síochána. We have very vigorous oversight of An Garda Síochána when we look at the statutory agencies that are in place. First of all, the Commissioner frequently reports to me and, in fact, is obliged to report to me and keep me apprised of important developments. Second, there is the new authority, the Policing and Community Safety Authority, to which the Commissioner and senior gardaí must report. There is Fiosrú, which investigates allegations of Garda malpractice and is responsible for investigating protected disclosures that are made within An Garda Síochána. Then there is the internal Garda board. We have, therefore, put in place a very detailed architecture for Garda accountability, which is very effective and does work in respect of it.
When it comes to protected disclosures, we have detailed legislation in place. In an organisation the size of An Garda Síochána, which has at present 14,700 sworn members and around 3,500 staff, we are going to get protected disclosures.
It happens in very many of the large State entities. We should not be fearful about the fact that protected disclosures are made. In fact, it is a sign the legislation is working.
Turning to some of the other issues that were consistently raised, I welcome Deputies saying they want more gardaí in their communities. In other countries, a lot of communities do not want members of the police force in their societies and communities. Every Deputy here who spoke about the numbers of An Garda Síochána said they want more representation in their communities. That is a very positive sign. The good news is recruitment to An Garda Síochána is going very well. We are at, as I said, approximately 14,700 sworn members of the force. By the end of this year, we will be at, or very close to, 15,000 members and will have the largest Garda force ever. The most important thing, however, is that when we have all of these gardaí, we do not want them stuck in stations. We want to see a very significant proportion out on the streets. We want to see high-visibility policing. That is my political priority when it comes to the Garda. The Commissioner fully supports that objective. I commend Deputy Ó Laoghaire on recognsing the large number of gardaí who went to Cork before Christmas. We now have high-visibility policing in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway. I want to see that rolled out to as many of the large areas and towns as possible and in rural Ireland as well. We all have to be conscious that we cannot have a garda on every street corner but what I would like to see, and what I know everyone in this House wants to see, is the presence of gardaí in the community. That gives a great sense of safety and comfort to members of those communities.
Another issue raised was that of journalistic privilege. A number of Deputies said we need to take this legislation carefully and slowly. I also have to take into account that part of the reason this legislation is being brought forward relates to the very significant decisions given by the Supreme Court in the case of Emmett Corcoran and indeed the Quirke decision as well. This legislation is providing protection to privilege. If we look at section 10 of the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1997, I am very concerned about the constitutionality of that provision as it is. The reason I am concerned about it is that, as anyone who reads objectively the judgments of Mr. Justice Collins and Mr. Justice Hogan in the Corcoran decision will know, there is a question mark over section 10. It needs to be amended rapidly because, in fairness to the case taken by Emmett Corcoran, who objected to the fact that the Garda had sought access to his information and did not bring to the attention of the District Court, from which they were seeking a search warrant, the fact that Mr. Corcoran was a journalist working for The Democrat newspaper. The Supreme Court has said there is a legislative urgency to changing this. We need to ensure that section is changed. The proposal I have put in will be very effective and robust and will mean that if a garda is seeking a search warrant against a solicitor or journalist, he or she will know there is a possibility that there could be privileged material there. Under section 17 of the Bill, that detail will have to be brought to the attention of the District Court judge, who will then have knowledge that the warrant has been sought in respect of a journalist, a solicitor or even a TD, as some contributors mentioned in the context of Oireachtas privilege. That is very different from where it is now. More important than that, however, is that the legislation then provides that there is a mechanism for an inter partes hearing for the court to determine whether the material is privileged and deserves to be protected. Obviously, we cannot have a situation where somebody stands up and says, “There's privileged material on that phone and you can't search it.” There needs to be an independent assessment and that is what is contained within this. That is important.
There was a lot of commentary about stop-and-search powers and the recording of ethnicity. I am happy to discuss this on Committee Stage but it is important to note that the policy I have is to introduce a unique identifier, which will achieve that objective.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-16