Garda chief hits back at watchdog criticism

The Garda today flatly dismissed scathing criticism over its alleged inability to apologise for wrongdoing.

Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy insisted the force have said sorry on many occasions when it had made mistakes.

An official watchdog set up to probe public grievances against the gardaí said there was an institutional culture of indifference to certain misconduct.

Mr Conroy took the unusual step of issuing a lengthy statement through his press office to reject many of the Garda Complaints Board’s accusations.

“In many instances, individuals or the organisation, have apologised for wrong-doings,” the statement said.

“However, in each case, the Garda Síochána, as with all other agencies, are guided by their legal advisors.

“Where actions by members of An Garda Síochána are genuinely bona fide mistakes the Gardai have no problem in apologising, provided such an apology does not in any way affect any future legal proceedings.”

The commissioner reacted to claims by the board that he fails to act over minor indiscipline with a stern reminder that it is he who has the power, under law, to decide if an officer is in the wrong.

“This is not a determination by the board and it falls to the commissioner to cause further enquiries to be carried out to finally determine whether or not a breach of discipline occurred,” the press office statement said.

Mr Conroy said of 63 cases referred to him last year he took disciplinary action in 35 – just over half – while eight cases remained unresolved into this year.

“In the remaining 20 cases, the commissioner’s decision following full review was that no disciplinary breach was disclosed and no disciplinary action was warranted or could be supported,” the statement said.

The Garda Complaints Board had said that where the commissioner takes no action he is effectively saying that the independent watchdog got it wrong.

Mr Conroy said he and his senior colleagues would give “due consideration” to several areas of concern raised by the Garda watchdog in its annual report for last year.

And despite the sharp attack on the force by board chairman Gordon Holmes, Mr Conroy was adamant the pair were professionally close.

Although he stressed he didn’t condone discourtesy, abuse of authority or misuse of powers within his ranks he moved to limit any damage to the force’s reputation as it was revealed complaints against gardai were up 15% last year.

“While the level of complaints are a cause of concern to the Commissioner, this statistic must be put in context,” the statement said.

“In 2006, members of An Garda Síochána had in excess of 1 million interactions with members of the public, with less than 0.1% resulting in admissible complaints.

“This compares to approximately 700,000 interactions in 2005, which resulted in approximately the same percentage.”

He also fended off criticism at the low level of engagement among officers accused of wrongdoing in the informal resolution process set up for certain complaints.

Mr Conroy insisted that under the law officers have a right to opt for or refuse to take part in the process as they see fit.

“This is a legal entitlement and whether or not they avail of this option is entirely a matter for each individual,” the statement said.

Superintendent Kevin Donoghue of the Garda Press Office responds to the report issued by the Garda Complaints Board.