Garda Síochána ‘over-promising, under-delivering’

The Policing Authority has said that An Garda Síochána is repeatedly “over-promising and under-delivering” with respect to reforming the force.

In the seventh and final progress report on the implementation of 2015 Changing Policing in Ireland programme, the authority said that while “pockets of the Garda Síochána have demonstrated a real appetite for change”, the absence of a strategic vision for the organisation in key areas has “bedevilled the implementation of change”.

An Garda Síochána had been implementing these recommendations through the previous Garda reform programme – the Modernisation and Renewal Programme 2016-2021.

This programme has now been superseded by the recommendations of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and the related implementation plan, A Policing Service for the Future, which was published in December 2018.

The Policing Authority’s final report, therefore, assesses progress made on the previous reform programme up to the end of 2018.

It found that third-party recommendations are accepted quickly by force with little assessment as to the feasibility of their achievement. This has led to An Garda Siochána “repeatedly over-promising and under delivering”.

The report found that insufficient attention has been and continues to be given to the key enablers of change — Human Resources (HR), Information and Communications Technology (ICT), accommodation and training and finance — to the extent that they need to become the first and main focus of the change effort itself.

Policing Authority said:

A continued failure to tackle capacity in these areas will inhibit the success of any planned change

Justice minister Charlie Flanagan said that he was struck by the finding that insufficient attention continues to be given to HR, ICT and training and finance.

“It is essential that this learning is taken into the implementation of the Commission [on the Future of Policing in Ireland] report in order to drive the reform process and ensure the vision of the Commission is realised. Capital funding of €92m has been provided in 2019 which will facilitate investment of €65m in ICT in order to provide leading-edge technology, €17m in the Garda Building Programme and €10m for the transport fleet.

Also, €10m has been provided to support both the ongoing Justice and Policing Transformation Programmes and funding will be provided directly to An Garda Síochána to support the implementation of A Policing Service for the Future,” he said.

Mr Flanagan pointed out that the Budget provided for “unprecedented levels of capital investment” in An Garda Síochána and that the number of Gardaí and Garda staff will continue to increase in line with the targets set for 2021 of 15,000 Garda members and 4,000 Garda staff.