Opening files should apply to the gardaí

THE call

It is questionable, however, if this worthwhile proposal will get much support from a Government clearly intent on clamping down on information about its own activities.

In supporting the Commissioner, it has to be acknowledged that he achieved considerable success in lifting the lid on public bodies that make crucial decisions which impact directly on the everyday lives of ordinary people. His abiding legacy is the general acceptance that all public service bodies should be answerable for their actions.

Characteristically, in the last annual report before he retires next month, after five years in that office and eight years as Ombudsman, Commissioner Murphy has urged the gardaí be brought within the scope of the Ombudsman’s remit.

Like it or not, there is growing disquiet at the perceived lack of accountability of the gardaí. Confidence in the force has been undermined. A case in point involved the heavy handed treatment of demonstrators on the streets of Dublin by gardaí who had removed ID numbers and later refused to co-operate with an official probe.

Similarly, the garda shooting of Kieran Carthy, whose death is currently the subject of a tribunal investigation, also caused much unease in the public mind.

Under new legislation, a dedicated ombudsman will investigate in the future against the gardaí. But that should not exclude the force from the normal scrutiny to which other bodies are subject.

Obviously, there must be class exemptions and these have already been put in place for certain areas of law enforcement, including security of the State and subversive activities. As the Commissioner rightly points out, however, there are also many areas in which the gardaí interact with an ordinary person where injustices can arise.

In most cases, people want the kind of information that would not be harmful to the gardaí. It should, for instance, be open to members of the public to have access to information about the effectiveness of the general operations of the gardaí.

Indeed, with the notable exception of the gardaí, most public bodies of significance are now subject to the Freedom of Information Act (FOI). The key role of the Commissioner, a post soon to be taken up by journalist Emily O’Reilly, involves deciding appeals by people whose requests under the FOI Act have been refused or only partially granted.

Almost 400 public bodies are now subject to the Act, including all Government departments and offices, health boards, local authorities, public hospitals, third level education bodies, the Legal Aid Board, Bord Fáilte, the National Economic and Social Council, the Central and Regional Fisheries Boards and the National Roads Authority.

There is a compelling case for bringing the Garda Síochána within the scope of the FOI legislation without further delay.

Now regarded as an essential part of public administration in Ireland, the FOI generated almost 17,200 requests to 400 public bodies in 2002. In a revealing sign of the times, nearly 1,000 requests were from former residents of industrial schools and other institutions seeking their personal records. Commissioner Murphy had to review 687 appeals, a 40% rise in public bodies refusing access to files.

At a time of widespread public unease about the growing secrecy within the Coalition, the role of the FOI in ensuring transparency and accountability in government must be protected.