GSOC hits out over lack of staffing

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) has been unable to bring a single protected disclosure investigation to a satisfactory conclusion because of chronic understaffing, according to its chair, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring.

Even though GSOC wrote to the Government 14 months ago seeking 12 extra staff in order to meet its responsibilities under the 2014 Protected Disclosures Act, no extra staff have yet been put in situ.

Instead a crew of just three looks into protected disclosures, albeit on a part-time basis, as they also have other duties within GSOC. It meant GSOC had “failed” people who had come to it to make protected disclosures, she said.