The management of the Garda Siochana is willing to have external investigators inquire into complaints against the force, according to the Garda Commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne.
At an IBEC lunch in Dublin yesterday, Mr Byrne said the present procedures for processing complaints by the public against gardai were governed by the Garda Siochana Complaints Act of 1986. This specifies that complaints to the Garda Complaints Board are investigated by members of the force.
"I cannot change the law," he said. "Until the legislators make changes, there is nothing I can do about it. But I assure you I will not stand in the way of change.
"I want it to go out loud and clear - Garda management is not opposed, in principle, to having members of the Garda Siochana investigated under a complaints process by external investigators."
He said that at present, in the Dublin area alone, he had three superintendents and four inspectors carrying out these investigations. "I believe these resources would be far better employed doing the work that Garda managers are trained and paid to do - policing the country, and let someone else carry out these Garda complaints investigations."
The commissioner's statement was welcomed by a human rights lawyer, Mr Michael Farrell, who recently criticised the Garda Complaints Board, and drew attention to criticisms by international human rights bodies of the way it operated.
The former co-chairman of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said on RTE radio: "The commissioner is now putting it up to the Government. In Northern Ireland a police ombudsman has been set up. If the Government is prepared to support it in the North, why not here?"
Commissioner Byrne said he did insist that in two areas investigations should be carried out by gardai. These were: criminal allegations against members of the force, and internal discipline investigations. But the same did not apply to complaints.
Referring to Garda accountability, he said the Garda Siochana was subject to political, financial, community, academic and media account ability, as well as accountability to the law. Members of the force were subject to the criminal and civil laws of the State, he said.
Mr Byrne said there was a constant demand for more Garda visibility on the streets. This could be achieved in three ways: by recruiting more gardai; by the civilianisation of Garda administration; or by overtime. Recruiting more gardai was a matter for the Government, and he had no power to recruit civilians. This left overtime, which was the cheapest and most effective method of increasing visibility.
"Garda visibility is extremely labour intensive," he said. "We have 702 Garda stations, and in order to have one extra garda patrolling for the 24 hours period from each of these stations would require an allocation of 3,650 extra gardai."
However, he said there was no research on the number of gardai required to police and ensure the security of the country in a cost-effective way.
Every means available to the Garda management would be used to maximise the best use of Garda resources, he said.
The Garda was committed to developing strategies to prevent and reduce crime at all levels. "A key element in this strategy is the development of partner ships which will deliver a quality policing service that meets with the approval of and has the backing of the community."