Sinn Fein has said that it cannot "at present" urge nationalists and republicans to join a new Northern Ireland police force on the basis of the Patten report. However, the party did leave the way open for doing so at a later stage.
In a formal response to the Patten Commission's proposals, which it submitted to the British government yesterday, Sinn Fein praised many elements of the report but criticised others for not going far enough on reform.
The party said it would reserve final judgment on whether it would urge nationalists and republicans to join any new police service until it saw the appropriate legislation.
In its interim response, the party said: "Sinn Fein is not convinced at present that the Patten report goes far enough, and we are therefore unable at present to take up the call to encourage people from nationalist and republican communities to join any emerging police service.
"Sinn Fein intends, therefore, to assess the recommendations in the Patten report and to look carefully at British government legislation and proposals following this period of consultation before reaching a final conclusion. We recognise there are many good things in the report."
The party said the report's recommendation of achieving 30 per cent Catholic members in 10 years was inadequate and added that even this target might not be achieved because compulsory redundancy was not permitted in the RUC.
It welcomed the levels of accountability in the new force although it expressed concern that they might not go far enough. It also welcomed the recommendation that Castlereagh and other interrogation centres be closed, but regretted that it had not proposed an end to emergency laws and plastic bullets.