‘Mistakes made but Garda corruption not widespread’
Superintendent Pat McCabe, general secretary of the association, also insisted members of his rank did not know about the recording of phone calls to and from Garda stations.
“Incredible as it seems, we were aware of the 999 calls but, in general, we were not aware that other calls were being recorded,” he said.
He added his members were surprised rather than angry about the revelation but he denied that it took a level of incompetence for superintendents not to have been aware what was going on in their own stations.
“Every single day of the week we are out working in the community, solving problems, solving issues, making people safe and we will continue to do that. That’s not incompetent.”
He refused to point the finger at the top level of Garda management, however. “Quite clearly the structures [for recordings] were put in place so somebody knew about that.
“The fact that we weren’t aware of that, there’s a lack of communication around it but there is a Commission and I think we should wait until all the facts are on the table.”
Supt McCabe was speaking prior to the association’s annual delegate conference which took place behind closed doors in Co Kildare yesterday.
He promised his members full co-operation with the Commission of Investigation into the recordings controversy and also backed the call by the Oireachtas Justice Committee for the terms of reference to be amended to speed up the inquiry.
“Anything that will bring closure to this, we would welcome it. Obviously time has to be allocated and you have to investigate any issue to the full but the sooner conclusions are drawn and we can move on the better,” he said.
Supt McCabe refused to be drawn into the controversy surrounding the removal of former commissioner Martin Callinan from office, except to say that it was sad and difficult for anyone of his calibre to leave the force “in an unplanned fashion”.
He said the association would welcome whoever was chosen to replace Mr Callinan, whether they came from outside the force or within. He said senior officers did not have a problem with whistleblowers. “We have to open up and embrace whistleblowers. We have to hear what they have to say,” he said.
On day-to-day policing matters, Supt McCabe said the association’s main concern remained resources, in particular for computerisation.
“We have made, and will make again today, a point to the minister [for justice] that we have not got a proper ICT infrastructure for a 21st century organisation,” he said.
