Gardaí could be without boss until 2019; Flanagan warned over filling post while review is under way

The appointment of the next Garda commissioner may not happen until 2019 after a dramatic intervention by the Policing Commission.

Commission chairwoman Kathleen O’Toole has written to Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan telling him it would be a “serious mistake” to proceed with the selection of a new commissioner until the expert group has produced its report.

She said the commission believed the selection process “should begin only” after they reported — saying it would be unrealistic to expect “credible candidates” to apply in the absence of clarity as to the job.

The report of the commission is due to be supplied to the minister in September 2018 — and there is no mention in the two-page letter of any interim report before then. This is despite repeated mentions by Mr Flanagan in recent weeks that the commission could, under its terms of reference, produce an interim report if it deemed it necessary.

The letter is seen within both the Policing Authority and the commission as referring to the September 2018 report — although an interim report has not been ruled out.

The Department of Justice, the Policing Authority, and the Public Appointments Service had begun researching and discussing the competition, which was expected to take up to six months before an appointment would be made.

Now the process appears, unless other developments occur, to be delayed considerably — with the establishment of the job specifications, followed by the competition, only beginning after the report is published — potentially pushing the process well into 2019.

Mr Flanagan and the Policing Authority received a copy of the letter on Monday.

Mr Flanagan last night said he would “carefully consider” the letter.

The authority said the matter would be discussed at their meeting tomorrow. Authority chairwoman Josephine Feehily is likely to be questioned about the matter when she appears before the Oireachtas Justice Committee this morning.

Ms O’Toole told the minister the letter had the “unanimous support” of members of the commission.

Ms O’Toole said: “We believe it would be a serious mistake to proceed with the selection of a new Garda Commissioner until this commission has produced its report on the transformation of national policing arrangements.”

The Seattle police chief said the commission was “still at an early stage” and it was too early to predict their eventual recommendations.

“But we can say without doubt that they will significantly affect the future role and responsibilities of the commissioner, and the management structure of the organisation s/he heads.”

She said their consultations had identified issues around governance, accountability, the role of policing and the powers and responsibilities of the commissioner, which suggested a need for “very significant” changes, including legislation.

“This clearly has implications for the search and selection process for the next commissioner,” said Ms O’Toole. “We are strongly of the view that the selection process for a new commissioner should begin only when the future policing arrangements, including partnerships with other government agencies, and the role of the commissioner within these arrangements, become clear.

“It would not be possible in advance of that to draw up job specifications for the position, nor would it be realistic to expect credible candidates to come forward in the absence of clarity about what the job will entail.”

She said they were “struck” by the large backlog of recommendations from the Inspectorate and the “very slow pace of action”.

She said there was an urgency in providing assistance to the acting commissioner and said the new commissioner “will undoubtedly need latitude to select a new Command Team”.