Gardaí and ombudsman on collision course

Tensions between the gardaí and the ombudsman are set to escalate today with fresh allegations by the watchdog of lack of co-operation by the force.

The Garda ombudsman’s annual report for 2012 is expected to detail cases where it claims they have experienced difficulties in accessing documentation and evidence from Garda authorities. It comes less than a fortnight after the ombudsman commission made an unprecedented attack on the force for not co-operating with their investigation in the so-called Kieran Boylan informant case.

In that case, which lasted four years, they said of the 63 requests for information from the force, only 17 were supplied in the 30-day agreed time period and six took more than a year.

The criticism resulted in a public argument with Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan who rejected the claims and hit out at the watchdog for not offering a right of reply prior to publication.

This, in turn, led to an intervention by Justice Minister Alan Shatter who said he had called a meeting between the two bodies — a meeting that has not yet been arranged.

Mr Shatter told the Dáil earlier this month he had received the annual report from the commission. He said the report raised issues “relating to delays in the finalisation of investigations”.

The minister also said he met with two members of the commission and they had expressed their concern to him about the delays.

Mr Shatter said he regarded full co-operation by the gardaí as an “extremely important issue” and the protocols laying down the time limits for the provision of information “should be respected”.

He made similar comments after the Boylan reports were published and said he had asked the commissioner for a response, after which he would hold a meeting between him and the commission, represented by chairman Simon O’Brien, who will present today’s report.

Commissioner Callinan is expected to make a response later today to the new allegations.