The Garda Commissioner has said the gardaí were placed in a difficult position when policing an eviction in Dublin earlier this month but he accepted there were issues for the gardaí in appearance, style and the way it was policed.
Appearing before the Policing Authority today, Drew Harris said he only received the Assistant Commissioner's report yesterday and it was quite considerable with a number of recommendations.
He said it was a risk situation, an individual was assaulted and a garda was subject to racial abuse.
He said the garda's only function there was to keep the peace but the time for the eviction was not of the garda's choosing during rush hour.
He also said the eviction seemed to go well and the protesters left peacefully but others arrived to agitate and the situation became extremely ugly.
He said valid points have been raised on the garda's style and numbers and he would report back to the authority.
Read more: Authority surprised at Commission recommendations
Earlier, Commissioner Harris told the Policing Authority that the conviction of Freddie Thompson was a real demonstration of in-house, multi-disciplinary teams in An Garda Síochána working together to disrupt gangland activity.
He described the investigation as "world class".
Commissioner Harris was outlining the gardaí’s operational successes which include major blows against organised crime including 50 assassination attempts thwarted and the seizures of millions of euro in cash, drugs, guns and the proceeds of crime including cars, luxury goods and properties.
He said this sends out a strong message to gang members that their supposed lavish lifestyles are temporary, will be targeted and will not be for very long.
He told the Authority of recent promotions but pointed out that these will only be of benefit to the organisation and society if the behaviour of these managers reflect what he and the public expects of them.
Gardaí being put back into frontline duties, says Harris
Commissioner Harris said he needs to understand how the garda budget of €1.6bn is being spent.
He said if the Garda understands the demand then they can prioritise service delivery.
He said the gardaí is undergoing a process of modernisation and civilianisation and gardaí are being put back into frontline duties from frontline policing to investigating serious crime.
Commissioner Harris said overtime has been reduced but not abolished and it was necessary to bring the budget under control.
The Chairperson of the Policing Authority said they wanted to move towards a costed policing plan.
Josephine Feehily said the Authority is not sure of the garda's resources and has been unable for three years to give an informed view on resources the garda needs.
Commissioner Harris said the garda could start to cost the plan but where you spend your money dictates your priorities but the garda would need additional skills to draw up the plan the Authority requires.
The Authority said it wants to be able to give the Minister for Justice an idea where the garda needs resources.
Commissioner Harris has said he is disappointed that some gardaí feel they are not in a meritocracy, that promotion is based on who you know and there are unhealthy aspects in the force.
However he said he wanted to assure this has been noticed and something is being done about it.
More than 2,000 gardaí not trained to drive under siren
The Policing Authority has been told that more than 2,000 members of the gardaí are not trained to drive with blue lights and sirens.
Assistant Commissioner Dave Sheehan told the authority that there were more than 480 gardaí waiting to be trained, but that would not be completed until the end of next year as a maximum of 500 can be trained in Templemore in a year.
He said breaking lights and the speed limit was governed by the legislation and a change in the law was required.
A serving member of an emergency service can only be trained in this type of emergency driving by another member of the emergency service.
Ms Feehily said the amount of gardaí needed to train other gardaí is not an effective use of resources.
The Assistant Commissioner also said that he examined outsourcing this specialist training, but that the Road Safety Authority is not equipped to provide the force with the necessary expertise and only has 12 advanced driving instructors in the country.
