Press release
Minister McEntee publishes General Scheme of Garda Operating Model Bill
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, has today published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Garda Síochána Operating Model) Bill, following approval by Government this morning. This is a short technical bill to facilitate the full roll out of the new Garda Operating Model.
The new model, announced by the Garda Commissioner in August 2019, introduces major changes to the structures of An Garda Síochána by providing more front-line Gardaí, increased Garda visibility, and a wider range of policing services for people in their local area.
Reform of An Garda Síochána is a priority for Minister McEntee and the development of a leading edge and accountable policing service through the implementation of A Policing Service for our Future is one of the key goals in the Minister’s Justice Plan 2021.
Under the Divisional Policing Model being introduced, all services will be managed and co-ordinated at divisional level, to allow greater specialisation and to release Gardaí from back office functions, and Garda Districts will no longer form part of the organisational structure.
Welcoming the publication of the General Scheme, Minister McEntee said:
"Reform of An Garda Síochána is a priority for me and is a key goal of Justice Plan 2021. This Bill is crucial to facilitating the continued rollout of the new Garda operating model.
"The new operating model reflects and addresses the challenges of modern day policing and will enhance the investigation of crime through the delivery of a greater range of specialised services in local areas such as the investigation of sexual crime, domestic violence, cyber-crime, and economic crime."
The General Scheme will remove references to districts from the statute book to ensure there are no legislative impediments to the roll-out of the new operating model. The bill will also amend the Garda rank at which certain statutory responsibilities are assigned, to ensure that the delivery of relevant services, such as the issuing of firearms licences, and certain court functions, are not affected by the new structures.
The operating model was a key recommendation for Garda reform by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland, which was published in September 2018, and its implementation plan, A Policing Service for the Future. This Bill marks an important step in fully implementing that recommendation as set out in the Programme for Government.
The General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Garda Síochána Operating Model) Bill has been finalised following extensive engagement with An Garda Síochána, which worked closely with the Department of Justice to identify the legislative changes required in respect of the new Operating Model.
The new op model implements four functional areas in each division:
The original rollout of the operating model in Q1 2020 was to focus on five divisions.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, progression of the project was restricted to background planning/design activities that did not impact on the operational capacity of the Divisions responding to the pandemic. In addition, only project activities that could be performed in line with the government’s public health guidelines proceeded.
In response to COVID-19, the project adopted a revised implementation approach which focuses on the establishment of the Business Services Functional Area (BSFA) initially across all Divisions. A key step was to standardise processes to ensure consistency both within and across divisions. 6 Divisions have gone live: Galway, Dublin South Central, Limerick, Cork City, Galway, Kerry and Mayo/Roscommon/Longford, and more divisions are scheduled to go live in Q1 2021. Preparation for the rollout of the remaining functional areas continues, including the development and standardisation of processes.