An outline of legislation providing for the appointment of a Garda inspectorate with full ombudsman powers is expected in the next fortnight, the Department of Justice confirmed today.
Pressure on the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell to appoint an ombudsman increased today as details surrounding the conduct of officers at Tallaght Garda Station emerged in a defamation case.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Labour spokesman on justice, Mr Joe Costello, called for the Minister to make the appointment he promised last November. The junior minister at the Department, Mr Willie O'Dea told the Seanad in April that the legislation would be published by the summer.
Details of legislation proposing new Garda powers emerged in today's media but they will be contained in a new Criminal Justice Bill - separate from the Garda Bill creating the inspectorate.
When the heads of the Garda Bill are published, it will provide for an inspectorate with full ombudsman powers and make the Garda Commissioner accountable to the Oireachtas.
It will also provide for measuring Garda performance and give the Oireachtas an input into how the Garda prioritise their work.
Meanwhile, the ICCL claimed details of the Criminal Justice Bill were disclosed to distract the public from "a serious case of police abuse" which emerged following the settlement of a defamation case yesterday.
An apology from the Minister for Justice, the Attorney General and the Garda Commissioner was read into the High Court record yesterday after solicitor Ms Grainne Malone was defamed by two officers at Tallaght Garda Station.
The incident occurred during the questioning of Ms Malone's client, Mr Philip Clarke, by two gardaí three years ago. The statement acknowledged that the officers had made comments about Ms Malone "which quite wrongly impugned her professional integrity and competence".
The State entered a nolle prosequi(plaintiff's relinquishment of suit) when Mr Clarke's case came before the courts last year. Afterwards, Ms Malone made a complaint about the Garda's conduct.
Director of the ICCL Ms Aisling Reidy today said: "It seems that the announcement [of additional Garda powers] is a distraction from a serious case of police abuse and failure to address it properly by Garda management."
"Cases such as Philip Clarke's once again highlight the seriousness of what can happen to people in police custody and still we have no independent mechanism to investigate these cases of abuse," she said.
"I have no doubt but that the establishment of an effective Ombudsman would do more to improve the quality and efficiency of policing than yet more new powers which are potential tools to violate people's civil liberties," she added.
Mr Costello described the revelations about Tallaght Garda Station as "a truly shocking picture that demands an immediate response from the Minister for Justice".
He said, however, the abuses were not unique. "More than €6m had been paid out by the Gardai over the previous five years in respect of claims taken against the Gardai for assault, unlawful arrest or other breach of a citizen's rights," he said. In most cases these claims were settled out of court and received little or no publicity.
He said the news was "more compelling evidence for the immediate establishment of a Garda Ombudsman who could carry out a thorough independent investigation into allegations of this nature".
He also called on the Garda Commissioner to make public the disciplinary action taken against the gardaí in question.