‘Gardaí should not be protected from prosecution’

A retired high-ranking garda has said the investigations into alleged wrongdoing in the force should be criminal inquiries rather than civil commissions.

Retired detective chief superintendent John O’Brien said the decision to set up commissions of investigation or tribunals meant that those responsible would not be held accountable.

He said by establishing civil inquiries the result was a mass of detail but no concrete action being taken against people who did wrong.

“We will wind up with volumes and volumes of information but you don’t wind up with accountability if criminality has taken place,” he said.

Mr O’Brien said the fact that somebody held a high rank in the gardaí or the justice system should not protect them from prosecution if they are found to have broken the law, and that the commission should instead focus on what structures are required for the future.

He said in practice there had been an axis of power between the Department of Justice, the Garda commissioner and the ministry that had been largely unaccountable for their actions.

Mr O’Brien was speaking to RTÉ’s Today with Seán O’Rourke where he said gardaí who did wrong deserved the same treatment as any other member of society.

However, he said allegations examined by Seán Guerin would stand for nothing until they had been fully investigated for potential breaches of the law.

Mr O’Brien said the force now needed a leadership that was willing to “embrace the good times and deal with the bad times”.