Laois TD says his government made 'a bad mistake' and should reconsider replacement of policing committees

A Laois Government TD says his own Government made ‘a bad mistake’ and should reconsider the replacement of Joint Policing Committees with new Local Community Safety Partnerships. 

Laois TD and former Minister Sean Fleming was speaking following the first meeting of the new Laois Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) which was held in private in Portlaoise on Thursday, January 22. 

The new forum replaces the Laois Joint Policing Committee (JPC) which was composed of local TDs along with a number of Councillors, members of the community and Garda representatives. It met every three months and issues of crime and security in the county were discussed and could be reported on. The new iteration excludes TDs, has far fewer Councillors and meets in private except for one meeting a year.

Deputy Fleming said the JPCs had worked very well in the past. He was highly critical of the new LCSP structure and said “it was a wrong decision and a bad mistake” to reduce the number of public representatives. “There should be national representatives from the Oireachtas,” said Dep Fleming. 

“I am criticising my own Government when I say that. They don’t get everything right,” said Dep Fleming. 

He said the Government gets many things right but not everything and in this case, “I am asking that it be revisited”.

Independent TD  Brian Stanley blasted the new forum and said “the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael Government need to sort this out. The Government has failed with what they have allowed to happen here”. 

“It is weakening democratic accountability. It is weakening public services. It is bad for policing, it is bad for democracy and it needs to be changed,” said Dep Stanley. 

“It is a ludicrous situation and the fact that it has to be in private almost the whole time, they can have one meeting in public apparently…policing is a public service,” he said. 

“One of the main means of communication and interface between the community and the Gardaí was the Joint Policing Committee. Now the fact that that is going to meet in private, that’s not a healthy situation. It is not a healthy situation at all in an open democratic country,” he said. 

“It is important for the public to hear the Garda reports. The Gardaí gave a very good report every month, the local media reported on it, the local representatives, whether they were community, Councillors or TDs could ask questions and raise concerns. There was a very good interaction there and I just think it is very regrettable what has happened here,” said Dep Stanley. 

He said the JPCs had worked well. “They were fairly effective. There was good attendance at them. The Councillors used them, the Gardaí used them well and engaged well in them and as a TD I found them useful,” he remarked. 

Dep Stanley said he had a number of concerns about the new CSPs and he had raised the issues with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan. 

Dep Stanley said TDs who are elected to represent the constituency can’t attend the new forums and “the County Manager, the Chief Executive of the Council, can’t sit on them apparently” and the meetings are held in private. He explained that old JPCs could go privately in-committee when they needed to discuss Garda operational or particularly sensitive issues. He said the system worked well.

“The problem now is the structure has been upended. There is very poor representation from the County Councillors because they cut down the numbers of people on it to represent the whole county. A lot of the geographical areas will not be covered,” he explained.

Fine Gael TD Willie Aird said he was “totally opposed” to the exclusion of the press from the meetings and he felt TDs should also be permitted to attend some of the meetings. 

“I disagree with it. The press should be in there, absolutely,” said Dep Aird. 

“I am disappointed because with something like that the more public representatives the better,” he remarked. 

Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, who was elected vice Chair of Laois CSP at the recent meeting, believes the media and local TDs should be allowed to attend the meeting. 

“Policing is such an important issue…the community has to be part of it and I want it opened,” she said. She was “shocked” to discover that neither the County Manager or Garda Chief Superintendent could not be part of the committee. 

She was however impressed with the committee members, which included representatives from groups like the Midland Drug and Alcohol Task Force, Probation Service and Foróige.

“There is a great calibre of people and great experience at the table,” said Cllr Dwane Stanley. 

She explained that they were each invited to discuss their priorities and in her case it was the “scourge of drugs” on communities leading to drug related deaths, intimidation, families paying off drug debts for children and drug driving. She said in the past it was largely an issue in disadvantaged areas but now it was everywhere. 

“I looked for the media to be in attendance at the next meeting,” she said. 

Cllr Dwane Stanley said she made it clear that “I am not going to be part of a talking shop. It has to be action based”.  

Fianna Fail Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald said she too was impressed with membership of the committee in terms of their experience but she wasn’t happy that the media was excluded. 

“I wasn’t and I am not and we will have to see how it goes,” she said. 

Another member, Fianna Fail’s Cllr Paddy Bracken said the forum was only set up. “Let it take off and see how it goes. We have a very good Chairman under Liam O’Neill,” he said. 

Fine Gael Cllr Conor Bergin said “I don’t think that the media should be excluded”. He said the inclusion of the local media was important to provide fair and balanced coverage. He noted that the media was present at all of the Council and Municipal District meetings. 

“This whole committee is new. We will have to see how it works out,” he remarked. 

In a press release, Laois County Council said the establishment of the Local Community Safety Partnership in each county represents a move away from the previous Joint Policing Committee model towards a more collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to community safety.

The Local Community Safety Partnership (LSCP) will meet at least six times per year and in line with national guidance, media attendance will be facilitated at the public meeting.

As the Partnership’s work evolves, the approach to media and public access will be kept under review by the committee.

In the meantime, transparency will be supported through the publication of agreed reports and updates on the LCSP’s work. The committee will also consider appropriate communication and engagement measures, including sharing information directly with local media as part of its wider communications strategy.

“We remain committed to openness, accountability and keeping the public informed about the work being undertaken to improve community safety locally,” the Council stated. 

They provided a list of the Laois CSP’s members. They are as follows:Mr. Liam O'Neill-Chair, Cllr. Caroline Dwane Stanley-Vice Chair, Cllr. Paddy Bracken, Cllr. Catherine Fitzgerald, Cllr. Ben Brennan, Cllr. Conor Bergin, Cllr. John King, Cllr. Ollie Clooney, Garda Superintendent  Brian A Farrell, Mr Robert O'Connor, Tusla,  Mr. Pat Delaney, Director of Services -Integration, Community & Environment, Laois County Council. Mr. Gus Carr, Resident.  Mr. Kieran Brosnan,Resident. Mr. Bobby Delaney, Resident. Ms. Caroline Whitelegg,Resident. Ms. Jacqui Carroll, Laois Chamber Ms. Catherine Doolan, Laois Education centre, Mr. Naeem Iqbal,Dignity Partnership. Ms. Bernie Meally,Foroige. Ms. Christina Fitzharris, Midlands LGBTQ+. Ms. Antoinette Kinsella, Midland Regional Drug and Alcohol Taskforce. Mr. Pat Duggan, Muintir Na Tíre. Ms. Marina Ryan, Laois Domestic Abuse Service. Mr. Brendan Birney, IFA. Mr. Derek McGourty-LOETB and  Ms Sarah Kavanagh-Probation Services.