Watchdog wants power for surprise garda station visits

The Garda Inspectorate has told the Policing Commission it wants the power to conduct unannounced visits at Garda stations.

It also wants the Garda commissioner to be obliged to give the inspectorate reasons why he or she will not implement its recommendations.

The inspectorate has said that while An Garda Síochána has broadly accepted the hundreds of recommendations it has made in different reports over the years that reform has been “slow”.