Bill to make gardai account for their actions

The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to introduce legislation which would compel gardaí to account for their actions when asked to do so by their superiors.

News that all members of the force are to lose their right to silence comes as the chairman of the Garda Complaints Board, Gordon Holmes, said investigations by the board were frequently met with a wall of silence, "a problem internationally known as the Blue Wall".

He added the board was not empowered to compel officers to answer questions during the course of its investigations.

"The board would have welcomed such ability, even with a built-in safeguard that such answers could only be used in disciplinary proceedings against the member concerned, but could not be used in any form of criminal proceedings."

Mr Holmes was speaking at the launch in Dublin yesterday of the annual report of the complaints board.

It revealed the number of complaints against members of the force last year increased by 5 per cent to 1,232.

Just three of these resulted in the DPP prosecuting gardaí and only five members of the force were found by internal disciplinary hearings to have seriously breached discipline.

Mr McDowell said a culture of silence had no place in a police force. He said Mr Justice Frederick Morris, in the two interim reports of the Morris tribunal, had identified this culture as problematic.

Justice Morris said some gardaí believed that before accounting for their movements to a superior officer they had the right to consult their solicitor, their staff representative association or that they had the right to remain silent on constitutional grounds. This was not acceptable, Mr McDowell said.

"It is my intention to make it very, very clear in the legislation ... that there is an absolute duty running from the very top to the very bottom of An Garda Síochána to be wholly accountable for the way in which you discharge the functions that you do. That will be written in large letters for everyone to see and for nobody to deny."

The move will be a controversial one and will be met with opposition from the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.

Mr Holmes said although the Morris tribunal had revealed problems within the force, he did not believe discipline had broken down to the extent suggested by recent media coverage.

"I think discipline in the force is quite good. It was not good in Donegal and that probably was not dealt with in time, because I don't think they realised it. The methods they had and the methods we had of investigating it were very limited.

"I think morale in the force is having a bit of a battering ... But I think the force will weather that without any great problems because there is so much goodwill for them."

Mr McDowell said the 5 per cent increase in the number of complaints received by the Garda Complaints Board last year was not a significant increase.

Both he and Mr Holmes expected the level of complaints to increase when the new Garda Ombudsman Commission was in place next year.

Both were in agreement that a three-person ombudsman board would be more suitable than a one-person office, as is in place in Northern Ireland, where Nuala O'Loan is the sole holder of the post.

Mr McDowell said when differences of opinion arose on certain issues among the three people holding the office in the Republic, majority decisions would apply. The Garda Bill, which will provide for the Garda Ombudsman in the Republic, would progress through the Houses of the Oireachtas before the end of this month.