Rabbitte calls for Dáil debate on Morris Tribunal findings

Labour Party Justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte has called for a full Dáil debate to be held on the findings of the Morris Tribunal.

Speaking on RTE radio the former leader of the Labour party said that after over five years and six reports from the Tribunal set up to investigate the actions of rogue Gardaí in Co Donegal the matter should be discussed in the Dáil.

He also said that Garda promotions should be taken out the political domain, and that the Garda Commissioner should be given great powers to discipline members of the force.

He made his comments following last week’s publication of the sixth report of the Tribunal, chaired by Mr Justice Frederick Morris, into corruption by rogue gardaí in Co Donegal that found that Detectives manufactured evidence, made wrongful arrests and acted completely improperly towards prisoners during a botched murder investigation.

It also found that officers had cheapened justice and damaged the reputations of innocent families.

The long-standing inquiry, which has led to ongoing reforms of the force, warned that the investigation into the death of cattle dealer Richie Barron, in Raphoe, Co Donegal, in October 1996 had severely damaged the reputation of Gardaí.

Mr Rabbitte spoke of both his and the public’s deep concern over what was contained in the most recent and other findings by Mr Justice Morris.

“I don’t think that there could be anything more serious than ordinary citizens being framed for a murder when there was no murder in the first place,” he said.

“The least we own Mr Justice Morris is that politicians tease through his findings and his conclusions in great details,” he said adding that it should not just be passed over to the Dáil’s Justice committee.

“All deputies on all sides of the house ought to be given the opportunity to contribute on this because there have been disturbing allegations,” he said adding that the Garda Ombudsman is currently investigating 750 claims of criminal misconduct.

While many may turn out to be “baseless or malicious” Mr Rabbitte said that it does show the scale of the concern out there.

He said that he could see no reason why Garda promotions should be in the hands of politicians, which have been since 1922, needs to be looked at.

He added that most law-abiding citizens are “outraged and dumbfounded” by the fact that Garda, criticised by Justice Morris for engaging in unlawful behaviour such planting explosives, framing innocent civilians for a murder that never committed and mistreating in custody, are still serving in the force.

“We also need to change the regulations to permit the Garda Commissioner to exercise discipline in a more effective fashion,” said Mr Rabbitte in response to comments by a Senior Garda that they could nothing to do with the Gardaí criticised by the Judge.

He also said the fact the report slipped out the same days as the election of Brian Cowan as Taoiseach was an act of “supreme cynicism.”

“I am very surprised that the new Taoiseach who seems to be so on song permitted this cynical releasing of these reports on the day of his own election when he knew it would be buried in the wider print media,” he said.

He was critical of new Tánaiste Mary Coughlan’s response was the report came out that day of Brian Cowan’s election was due to factors including that the Minister for Justice had to get the views of the Garda Commissioner.

However Mr Rabbitte said that this is “a policy matter” and one for the minister for Justice. He added that he was flummoxed by the fact that was Mary Coughlan’s first comment on the Morris Tribunal.

“How a Donegal TD could have avoided commenting on this situation for 10 years is beyond me.”