A chara, – I note with regret that Conor Brady has chosen to take a swipe at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality and our address of the issues of community policing and rural crime as reflected in our recently published report ("Garda Reserve is obvious solution to rural policing", Opinion & Analysis, April 4th).
He is, of course, entitled to his opinion.
As an Oireachtas committee, representative of a cross-section of the political make-up of both Dáil and Seanad, we have since our establishment in 2016 sought to address a range of relevant issues within our committee’s remit and to present a carefully considered report to our colleague members of both Houses and to the Minister for Justice and Equality, and with appropriate, measured recommendations.
We began our address of community policing and rural crime last October and engaged in detailed evaluation, including direct exchanges with, among others, senior representatives of An Garda Síochána, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), the Irish Farmers Association, the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association (ICSA), Muintir na Tíre and Foróige. The farming and rural Ireland sectors have all welcomed the report and its recommendations.
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If it is the case, as Conor Brady believes, that he has read some of these recommendations before, then that does not take away from their validity. If previous reports from whatever quarter made similar recommendations then that tells us that the real fault rests in the failure of a succession of ministers for justice and governments, of whatever hue, to act on those recommendations. That’s where the problem rests and where the solution lies.
All that said, he is right that we did not take into account the potential of the Garda Reserve in the course of our deliberations. That was an oversight.
For our part, I believe we have made a useful and, hopefully, timely contribution to the current consideration of all matters in the sphere of community policing and the address of rural crime. I am confident that I am not alone in that view. – Is mise,
CAOIMHGHÍN
Ó CAOLÁIN TD,
Chairman,
Oireachtas Committee
on Justice & Equality,
Leinster House, Dublin 2.