Garda ombudsman launched today

The Garda Ombudsman Commission was officially launched today.

The new body will replace the Garda Complaints Board in dealing with complaints from the public against members of the gardaí.

The new body will have its own trained investigations staff and significantly greater powers, although unlike the Northern Ireland Policing Board, it is not fully independent.

Chairman of the three-person commission Mr Justice Kevin Haugh said he anticipated a potentially greater workload than before.

"If we reach the kind of ratio of complaints for a serving police officer as experienced in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, there will be a very substantial increase over the number of complaints that came, on average, to the Garda Síochána Complaints Board."