The Government is to introduce a new code of discipline for the Gardai after another series of damning reports from the Morris Tribunal.
The tribunal has provided three more reports into corruption in the Donegal Garda Division last week and has stated that there is substantial evidence that discipline has been severely undermined within the organisation as a whole.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he would be publishing new Garda disciplinary regulations within the coming weeks to replace the existing system, which has been criticised for its slowness and complexity.
There will also be a whistleblower's charter to allow gardai or members of the public to report in confidence about allegations of corruption and malpractice within the force.
Mr McDowell, who received the tribunal's reports into the Burnfoot, Ardara and Silver Bullet modules last week, has only published some of the tribunal's more urgent recommendations so far.
Judge Frederick Morris has said that with the existing garda disciplinary process, legal procedures can be used to delay and frustrate simple and straightforward disciplinary investigations. This has led to some garda disciplinary cases remaining unresolved in the courts for years.
Judge Morris said that the force needed the safeguard of strict internal discipline, strict accounting structures and a swift method of disposing of members who are causing real problems.
In response to another of Judge Morris's investigations, Mr McDowell is setting up a working group in co-operation with Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy to improve the leadership structure in the force.
The promotions system, which has been blamed for many of the problems which developed in Donegal, is being changed and the three-person Garda promotion board will in future contain only one member of the force.
The Garda Inspectorate has been established to improve professional standards while the newly-formed Garda Ombudsman Commission will replace the discredited
Garda Complaints Board. Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy will have the power to automatically dismiss a member of the force if public confidence is at risk and all gardai will have to account for their actions on duty under the Garda Act 2005.
Mr McDowell has a statutory duty to publish the Burnfoot, Ardara and Silver Bullet reports within 14 days. But he said he would be applying to the High Court for directions because the publication of certain elements might prejudice criminal proceedings. Suspended Detective Sergeant John White mounted an unsuccessful Supreme Court challenge to prevent the Morris Tribunal from investigating allegations that a shotgun was planted at a travellers' camp in Burnfoot, County Donegal. The module was heard entirely in private.
The Morris Tribunal has now sat for more than 450 days since it was set up in 2002 and has completed seven of its 10 reports. Its recommendations have inspired the Garda Act 2005, the biggest overhaul of policing since the force was founded in 1922.