Gardaí unable to apologise for errors - report

The "total inability" of gardaí to apologise for mistakes and the Garda Commissioner's lack of action on minor breaches of discipline referred to him, were highlighted in the 2006 annual report from the Garda Síochána Complaints Board launched yesterday.

It found there was a 15 per cent increase in the number of complaints from the public about gardaí last year, with 1,350 complaints received.

The board's chairman, Dr Gordon Holmes, attributed the increase to the publicity surrounding the establishment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

The commission began taking complaints on May 9th but the board will continue to operate until it has dealt with the remaining 300 or so cases currently on hand. Dr Holmes, former State solicitor for Limerick city, has been chairman of the complaints board since 2002.

"All of the publicity that was attendant upon the ombudsman commission being set up reminded people of our existence," he said. "I don't think it means that there's any worse behaviour by guards."

Abuse of Garda authority was claimed in 34 per cent of cases while complaints about discourtesy accounted for 32 per cent of cases. One quarter of complaints concerned the neglect of duty.

In 72 per cent of cases, it was found that there was no offence or breach of discipline.

Dr Holmes said that where there was a conflict of evidence between the garda and the complainant, the board could not find that an offence had been committed without evidence.

"There are probably people out there who would feel aggrieved about that and I can understand that," he said.

Some 20 per cent of cases were referred to the Garda Commissioner where a minor breach of discipline may have been disclosed and the remaining 8 per cent were referred to the complaints board's tribunal for investigation.

Dr Holmes said it was "unsatisfactory in the extreme" that Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy did not take any further action in more than half of the cases referred to it for minor breaches of discipline.

"It is just impossible to imagine that the board was wrong in all of the cases in which no further action was taken," he said. The lack of action came to the attention of the board in the middle of last year and Dr Holmes said that once the matter was brought to the commissioner's attention, the matter was addressed.

He said the Garda's lack of willingness to apologise for genuine mistakes regretfully had not improved in recent years.

Dr Holmes gave the example of a Garda drugs search of an apartment. An innocent couple had moved in some months earlier but gardaí appeared to be unaware of it. They broke down the apartment door when the couple were at work and then discovered that the suspect did not live there.

Gardaí did not immediately apologise and one year later, the flat owner had not been paid for the damage caused.

"This was wholly and totally unacceptable and an apology in time and prompt action by the gardaí would have resolved the matter."

Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan noted Dr Holmes's comments and said he hoped the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission "takes specific note of that point the chairman makes and ensures that a culture of apology is generated throughout the force".