'Work underway' on Government proposals for new security watchdog

The establishment of an independent examiner was recommended in the Future of Policing in Ireland, published in 2018. Picture: Kathleen O'Toole, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Picture: Eamonn Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The Government is considering modelling the establishment of a new security oversight chief on a powerful watchdog in Britain.

The move has been welcomed by a former member of the Policing Commission, which called for such an independent oversight office in its landmark report, published two years ago.

The recommendation from the Policing Commission to set up an independent examiner was part of a proposed overhaul of the security infrastructure in Ireland.

As well as beefing up the Garda internal security service, it suggested the creation of a new national intelligence coordination body within the Department of the Taoiseach, bringing together the country’s various agencies and departments involved in State security.

The independent examiner that was recommended would review not only the operation of security and serious crime legislation and powers, but also any operations giving rise to concern and adjudicate on access requests from policing oversight bodies, such as GSOC.

Ireland currently has a range of judicial review procedures on security legislation, but these have been criticised as inadequate.

Laws to create the examiner were due to be drafted by the end of 2019.

In a statement, the Department of Justice said the independent examiner had access to “highly sensitive information which must be protected and handled with care” and that special arrangements were needed.

“Work is underway on the drafting of proposals having regard to international practice in this regard including the oversight mechanisms that operate in operate in the UK and Australia,” it said.

The Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation in the UK boasts considerable independence and access to security documentation and personnel and engages extensively with the public, publishes detailed reports, appears before parliamentary committees and is active on social media.

The department statement said the examiner legislative provisions would form part of the wider Policing and Community Safety Bill. It said work on a general scheme of the bill was at an advanced stage, with consultation underway, before being brought before Cabinet "in the near future". 

Professor Donncha O’Connell, School of Law in NUIG, and a former member of the Policing Commission said: "The Commission, having considered claims that national security reasons were sometimes used to refuse requests from Garda oversight bodies for certain information, recommended that the independent examiner should be empowered to adjudicate by way of appeal in situations where such reasons were given for withholding information.

“For this and other reasons, we recommended that the independent examiner should have strong legal qualifications and a comprehensive understanding of the various domestic and international legal issues relevant to national security. 

"It is critical that such an office is held by a person of high credibility and that she or he enjoys the confidence of the public."

He said the proposal was in the context of the new intelligence body, the National Security Analysis Centre. He said this was based on a commission recommendation, which would "dilute the near monopoly of An Garda Síochána in relation to national security matters”.