Replacement system must allow gardaí to report concerns

The confidential garda recipient was a key institution set up to help address the chronic failures identified by the Morris Tribunal into endemic corruption in the Donegal division.

But now the justice minister has decided it is no longer fit for purpose and is not doing the job it was set up for. A new system will be put in place. And, after he relieved Oliver Connolly of his duties, it will be under a new head.

The office was established by regulations on reporting garda corruption and malpractice drafted under Justice Minister Michael McDowell. The first appointment was made by Brian Lenihan who installed former secretary general at the president’s office, Brian McCarthy, to the post.