The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commissioner Emily Logan has been recommended by Government to become the State’s first Police Ombudsman.
She will be officially appointed later this year when Gsoc is reconstituted as Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, headed by a single individual with an expanded remit for investigating allegations of wrongdoing by gardaí.
Ms Logan is also a former chief commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, and was Ireland’s first Ombudsman for Children.
“Emily Logan is eminently qualified to perform the role of Police Ombudsman and the Government was pleased to support her nomination,” Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said on Tuesday.
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Ms Logan was nominated for the role following an open competition undertaken by the Public Appointments Service.
It comes as part of a new “governance and oversight landscape” being established under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. The Government approved the nomination last week and Ms Logan will later be appointment by President Michael D Higgins.
The forthcoming legislation has been designed to address community safety, strengthen and consolidate external oversight of An Garda Síochána, establish a new non-executive board within An Garda Síochána, and reconstitute Gsoc as Fiosrú, a reformed police complaints body.
A comprehensive reform of Gsoc had been recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. Its current three Commissioner model is being replaced by a single head of the organisation.
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