Patten, Hayes should review Garda Síochána, says Labour

RUC reformers Chris Patten and Maurice Hayes should be recruited to review An Garda Síochána and devise an alternative to the proposed Garda Ombudsman, the Labour party said yesterday.

Justice spokesman Joe Costello said that, following the devastating Morris Tribunal report, Justice Minister Michael McDowell should scrap legislation setting up the Garda Ombudsman.

"At this stage, the minister should jettison the Garda Bill. On foot of Morris, it's not adequate. Morris shows the problems in the force are more fundamental."

He said an expert body, similar to the Patten Commission in Northern Ireland, should be set up.

"Chris Patten and Maurice Hayes were the mainstays of the commission set up under the Good Friday Agreement to reform the RUC and did a fantastic job.

"Together with a few more experts, they could be given six months to examine the gardaí and make recommendations as to the structure required for the 21st century."

Mr Costello said he would be taking the matter up with the Dáil Justice Committee, of which he is a member.

"This body could work under the auspices of the justice committee. I'll be proposing as soon as I can that it be our next project."

He added that a strong Ombudsman was all the more necessary given the extra powers the minister was giving gardaí, including the power, in certain circumstances, to issue their own search warrants.

The interim report of the Morris tribunal issued devastating findings on corruption and negligence in the Co Donegal division in the 1990s.

It also made damning criticisms of garda discipline, a code of silence among officers and the systems of conducting investigations, running informants and promoting officers.

The report recommended the Ombudsman be given the power to carry out periodic reviews of the system of informant handling.

The Human Rights Commission has already raised concerns at restrictions in the powers of the proposed office of Ombudsman, saying it has less power than the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture.