The Government's decision to appoint a three-person committee to investigate complaints against members of the Garda, rather than a single ombudsman, is a major flaw in the Garda Síochána Bill. Public confidence in the police force has been deeply shaken because of attempts to pervert the course of justice in Co Donegal and elsewhere. Two damning reports by Mr Justice Morris should have convinced the Government of the need for an effective investigative system. It is unfortunate that this has not happened.
A ready-made template for action was available to the Government by looking to Northern Ireland where the work of Police Ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, is regarded as an outstanding success. The appointment of an ombudsman, with the investigative powers of a High Court judge, was championed by the Government and regarded as a fundamental element within a reformed Police Service of Northern Ireland. The Government has not lived up to the standards of accountability it demanded of others.
Some important changes are contained in the Garda Síochána Act, which has just passed all stages in the Dáil. It redefines relations between the Department of Justice and the Garda Commissioner through the appointment of a Garda Inspectorate that will review and report to the Minister for Justice on the practices, standards and performance of the force. The commissioner will also be required to give the Minister access to certain documents and files. There will be greater formal contact with the Oireachtas and local communities. And new systems of training, record-keeping and management will be introduced. By making the inspectorate report to the department, the Minister has expanded his political control, in line with the Morris report which spoke of the need for greater oversight of operational matters. Members of the Garda will be required to account for their actions while on duty.
A three-person inspectorate was first proposed by the former minister John O'Donoghue in 2001, in response to growing public concern that some members of the police force were out of control and that disciplinary systems, including the Garda Complaints Board, were ineffective. A culture had developed within the Garda whereby members felt a primary allegiance to their colleagues, rather than to the rule of law. Co-operation was withheld from internal disciplinary inquiries, from the Garda Complaints Board and even from tribunals of inquiry. As far back as 1999, the Garda Complaints Board warned that citizens were being intimidated into dropping complaints against gardaí.
There is a serious problem within the Garda Síochána. Confidence in the police is one of the key barometers of a democratic society. It is regrettable that this watered-down version of Patten reforms is acceptable in this part of the island. An opportunity to assert an all-Ireland code of police standards has been lost.