Loopholes encourage gardaí not to use electronic recordings

GARDAÍ are able to avail of too many loopholes to avoid using electronic recording equipment when interviewing suspects, a senior legal expert said yesterday.

Professor Dermot Walsh’s comments follow a statement by Mr Justice Niall Fennelly of the Supreme Court regarding the apparent “slowness” among gardaí to use widely available video-recording equipment.

Mr Walsh, of the University of Limerick, said there had been “tremendous foot-dragging” since regulations enabling electronic recording were introduced in 1997. He said there was plenty of scope in the regulations for this equipment not to be used.