11/04/2019

Policing Reform Report Published

The Policing Authority's seventh and final report, assessing the progress made by An Garda Síochána in its implementation of the 2015 'Changing Policing in Ireland' recommendations has today been published.

The review, released by Minister for Justice and Equality Charlie Flanagan TD, identified three key areas in need of strategic investment and vision; ICT, Human Resources and Finance.

Thanking the Policing Authority for its work, Minister Flanagan said: "Through its quarterly reports, the Policing Authority has provided a very valuable, evidence-based assessment of progress on Garda reform since 2016. This series of reports, and the learnings made as a result, will provide a very significant resource to everyone involved in the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.

"I was particularly struck by the Authority's observation that insufficient attention has been and continues to be given to the key enables of change such as the organisation's HR, ICT, Training and Finance functions and their recommendation that these enablers need to become the first and main focus of the change effort itself.

"It is essential that this learning is taken into the implementation of the Commission's report in order to drive the reform process and ensure the vision of the Commission is realised. Capital funding of €92 million has been provided in 2019 which will facilitate investment of €65 million in ICT in order to provide leading edge technology, €17 million in the Garda Building Programme and €10 million for the transport fleet. Also €10 million 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."

The 2019 Budget is expected to provide for "unprecedented levels" of investment in the force. This will deliver modern technology used at the core of policing, with the number of staff to continue to rise in line with targets set for 2021 of 15,000 Garda members and 4,000 staff.



(JG/MH)

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