Gardai who were found to have been in serious breach of discipline in 1998 faced far more severe penalties than in previous years, according to the annual report of the Garda Siochana Complaints Board, which will be published next week.
Of six gardai who were found by the board's complaints tribunal to have committed a serious breach of discipline, one was dismissed from the force, one was requested to resign, one was reduced in rank and fines were imposed on the other three.
This compares to just one garda being fined in 1997, while in 1996, of the five gardai found to have committed a serious breach of discipline, one was cautioned and the rest received temporary pay reductions.
More than 1,400 complaints were made to the board last year, an increase of 8 per cent on 1997 and almost double the number in 1990. As in previous years, however, the majority of the complaints were either withdrawn by the complainants or failed to meet the board's criteria for investigation.
Some 80 people withdrew complaints before the board had a chance to study them and a further 200 were withdrawn after initial examination. More than 560 complaints were found to be inadmissible.
Complaints must relate to an incident which occurred less than six months previously and pertain to a criminal offence or breach of internal Garda guidelines.
Some 300 cases were investigated in detail by the board, 196 of which were referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Decisions to prosecute were made in nine cases.
The board found evidence of minor breaches of discipline in a total of 28 cases. These resulted in directions being sent to Garda superintendents for the matters to be resolved locally.
Evidence of serious breaches of discipline was found in 27 cases, all of which were referred to the tribunal. A total of 11 cases were finalised by the tribunal last year, compared to three in 1997 and 14 in 1996. Five of the gardai involved in the 11 cases were cleared, while disciplinary action was brought against the other six.
As well as highlighting the continuing upward trend in complaints, the report will underline the case for the amendment of the Garda Siochana (Complaints) Act, 1986, in order to make the board more efficient and independent.
The board is seeking a number of new powers, among them the ability to decide the levels of supervision which should apply in the various investigations. The board also believes that it, and not the Garda Commissioner, should decide whether a complaint is appropriate for formal investigation.
In order to reduce its workload the board, which has a fulltime staff of 16, is arguing that a requirement to obtain the consent of the DPP before issuing a direction to its investigating officers should be lifted. It believes that only incidents where it considers a prima-facie case may exist should be referred to the DPP.
The board is also seeking a relaxation in the rules covering the admissibility of complaints. It has suggested specifically that the six-month limit be extended and that next-of-kin should be free to make a complaint on behalf of someone who is not able to do so directly.
