Bill leaves gardaí ‘open to accusations of bias’

GARDAÍ will be left open to accusations of bias as the new Ombudsman Commission is not a totally independent body, a garda representative body believes.

President of the Garda Representative Association Michael Kirby said he wanted the new commission to be completely independent of the force because of a strong public perception that members could not investigate themselves.

“It has not done that because it’s a sort of half way house, where gardaí investigate some issues, and may or may not be supervised,” said Mr Kirby. The lengthy Garda Bill, described by Justice Minister Michael McDowell as one of the most important pieces of legislation in the life of the government, contains details of the three-member Garda Ombudsman Commission. He hopes the bill will be enacted before the summer recess and has earmarked €1 million to establish the commission so it is up and running as early as possible.

It’s estimated the commission will employ 80 staff, including 10 to 20 investigators, and have an annual budget of around €7m. That compares to the North’s Ombudsman’s staff of 120, including 60 investigators, a budget of over e10m a year and powers to search police stations without warning. It will be able to second serving members of the force, or those from abroad, and there is no bar on former gardaí applying for positions.

Every complaint will either be made to the commission or referred on to it by the Gardaí.

It will up to the commission to decide whether to investigate or refer the case to the Garda Commissioner for investigation.

These will be supervised and reviewed by the commission.

Investigating officers will have the powers to arrest and detain and pass files to the DPP. It will also be a criminal offence to give false or misleading information to the Ombudsman Commission.

The Garda Commissioner and the minister must be notified of any request to search a Garda station. The Commissioner can object to a search on grounds of national security. In this case the matter is referred to the minister, who can then issue directions excluding certain areas of a station.

Mr McDowell believes the commission will be an adequately resourced, “full blooded” Ombudsman service with the same powers as Nuala O’Loan’s office in the North. “An important feature of the powers of the Commission is that it can investigate misconduct on its own initiative and its officers will have the same powers as members of the Garda,” said Mr McDowell. It can also examine practices and procedures at the request of the minister.

Pa Flynn, general secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, said his group’s national executive will have to examine the bill’s detail.

The executive will look not only at the Ombudsman Commission, but also at the proposals for a reserve police force, the powers for security staff to arrest people in designated buildings and the policing committees.

Mr Flynn said: “When you get some sort of a new bill in, it’s going to create a certain amount of tension, not only for our members but all members of the Garda.”

He said the changes envisaged in the bill will create unnecessary tension at a time when the job of the gardaí is becoming increasingly more difficult. Mr Flynn said: “We have no problem with accountability, provided it’s fair.”