The three-member independent Garda Inspectorate, provided for in the Garda reform package announced yesterday, will have powers to investigate all complaints made by the public against members of the force. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, reports.
However, its final powers will not be settled on until the Minister for Justice finishes consultations later this year.
"This is the first major piece of legislative reform of the Garda Síochána since the foundation of the State," the Minister, Mr McDowell, said yesterday when he published details of the new Garda Síochána Bill.
The existing Garda Complaints Board had already acknowledged that its own investigative powers "have not been a qualified success", he added.
A High Court or Supreme Court judge will head the inspectorate, though one of the other two members could be a former senior Garda officer.
Day-to-day working knowledge of Garda operations could be "an advantage", he said. "But, on the other hand, this is not a retirement home for senior officers." Emphasising that the debate was still going on inside the Department, he said: "The powers of the inspectorate are still in gestation.
"But there is a lively debate in principle on the issue as to whether it is appropriate that the inspectorate should have access to all records of An Garda Síochána, including sensitive security records, as of right, without any check or counter-balance to that.
"If there were to be some check or counter-balance, obviously you would have to work out who is to exercise that power. Would it be a minister or would it be a judicial person?
"In certain circumstances, there will be two groups of people with the power to arrest each other and power to seize each others' files. Clearly you have to have some system to resolve any disputes that would arise," he said.
However, the inspectorate will only be able to launch its own investigations in cases where someone has died in Garda custody, or during a Garda operation. It will be able to examine Garda practices and policies at the request of the Minister.
The Garda will have to supply all necessary information and papers, except where release could prejudice an ongoing case or threaten State security.
The inspectorate, on 48 hours' notice, will be able to inspect any Garda station and documents or anything else it requires.
A complaint made to the Garda Commissioner will be first investigated by the Garda itself, though the inspectorate will have to be informed immediately. Powers enjoyed by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman are those that the Government "generally" intends to offer, he said.
The Minister was questioned about last year's May Day march in Dublin, when "Reclaim The Streets" demonstrators were batoned by gardaí. Subsequently, gardaí refused to identify their colleagues. "I think that that is exactly the kind of situation where an inspectorate is required," Mr McDowell said.
However, he said the Garda was willing to "deal with criminal behaviour on the part of a small minority of guards who have gone to the bad, so to speak. There is plenty of evidence that they do so zealously and sternly."
The Garda Complaints Board "for all of its self-identified imperfections" decided "off its own bat" to use its existing powers to look into the May Day incident.
"I want to underscore the fact that sight should never be lost of one thing and that is the enormous legacy of respect that members of the Garda have earned over the years."
The proposed creation of a Garda Reserve was sharply criticised by the president of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI), Mr Joe Dirwan. The proposal would be considered by the AGSI next Tuesday, he said. "However, I can say that I believe the proposal on reservists represents policing on the cheap," he added.
"After all, the previous minister for justice (Mr O'Donoghue) promised 2,000 extra gardaí 15 months ago. Where has that promise gone?" The proposal would create "two-tier" policing. There was nothing in the document about the provision of resources, he noted.
The general secretary of the Garda Representative Association, Mr P. J. Stone, said the proposals would have to be studied in detail before his organisation responded.