I wish to thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording me this opportunity of raising this matter on the adjournment. I congratulate the Minister for Justice on his appointment and wish him well in what I know, even from this remove, to be a very challenging post. I hope the cause of justice will be well served under his stewardship. For a number of months we have heard of allegations of maltreatment by the Garda Síochána of persons arrested under the Emergency Powers Act and the Offences Against the State Act. The allegations have come from a wide range of sources, including Amnesty International which submitted a report on the subject to the Government. While this report has not been published in full a summary of it has been. It is clear from that summary that Amnesty International are concerned. Similar allegations were made by members of the legal profession, including a lawyer who acted on behalf of the Government at the recent Strasbourg hearing concerning Northern Ireland. Allegations were also made by journalists. Indeed, the Minister for Justice, when in Opposition, felt the allegations were serious enough to warrant a public inquiry.
I should like to quote the following from the Official Report, Volume 296, column 1770:
Mr. G. Collins: Would the Minister not agree that because of the allegations that are being made, and being made in increasing numbers, the best way and the only way to clear the good name of the Garda would be to have a public inquiry, judicial or otherwise, into the allegations?
Further it appears that the Taoiseach, when Leader of the Opposition, called for the setting up of an independent tribunal to look into the allegations following the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis in February, 1977. Later that month the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party supported the demands for an independent inquiry. During this period public concern had been raised about the possible infringement of the civil and human rights of arrested persons and about the possibility that some members of the Garda Síochána were directly involved in such infringements. Public concern has been raised again to such a level that a full, independent inquiry is essential in the interests of the Garda Síochána and in the interests of ensuring that those who may have committed the infringements are subjected to the full rigour of the law.
I should like to add that I am not condemning this Minister, or members of the Government, for the action taken but I wonder why such Members who were so vociferous when in Opposition in demanding a full public inquiry have not done so now that it is in their power to hold such an inquiry. What they propose doing falls far short of what should be done. The measures adopted by the Government are inadequate because they do not provide in any meaningful way for the full investigation into the allegations that have been made about ill-treatment in the past. This is grossly unfair to those who allege they have been maltreated and to the good reputation of the Garda Síochana.
Public concern has been raised to such a level in relation to this matter that justice must not only be done but be seen to be done. I have no doubt that the Minister will say that he has assigned one or more senior Garda officers to investigate individual complaints and to report directly to the Director of Public Prosecutions. This has been presented as being sufficient but, in fact, it is not. As the Irish Council for Civil Liberties point out, this response is totally inadequate because no matter how impartial the investigations may be they will not appear as such in the eyes of the public. They will not assuage the suspicion that has now arisen. For this reason the Labour Party call on the Minister to widen the terms of reference of the special committee to enable them investigate individual cases of ill-treatment and report publicly thereon. The Minister may suggest that a special committee could not investigate cases where the persons concerned will not co-operate or where there are cases pending before our courts. He made those points in the statement issued when he announced the setting up of the special committee. That is not a real objection to my proposal because the special committee would, obviously, only investigate those cases where the complainant wished an investigation to be carried out. Cases already before the courts would be treated as sub judice.
Another criticism is in relation to future safeguards. The recommendation in relation to future safeguards will be a vital aspect of the committee's work. Its importance cannot be over-stressed but I doubt if the committee can do their work effectively in this regard. They cannot fully investigate what happened in the past. For the future I should like to state that it is in the interests of citizens and of the Garda Síochána that a permanent independent complaints tribunal which can investigate all allegations of ill-treatment by the Garda Síochána should be set up. This is the practice in most democracies and it is a good one. Such a tribunal would prove to be the most effective deterrent against events of the kind which have been alleged. It would uphold the good reputation justly enjoyed by the vast majority of the members of the Garda Síochána and the high standards they uphold often in the face of extreme provocation.
The terms of reference given to the special committee are, at best, vague on the question of whether the committee have power to examine the desirability of such a tribunal and the appropriate way of setting it up. The terms of reference of the committee should be extended to put beyond all possible doubt that one of their primary tasks will be to examine the appropriate way in which such a tribunal might be established. The position of my party in relation to this matter is clear. At our last annual conference it was resolved that we seek the establishment of an independent tribunal and that the findings of such a tribunal be publicly reported. In repeating the position of my party I want to ask the Minister, and the Government, to reconsider the terms of reference given to the committee so as to give effect to my proposal. It is incumbent on the parliaments of every civilised society to guarantee the safe custody and good treatment of suspects and prisoners in the custody of the law. In this connection I recommend to the Minister that early consideration be given to the adoption by this Parliament of the guidelines laid down by the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva and in the UN Draft Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners.
While we do not condone acts of violence and murder by anybody and while we affirm strongly that all perpetrators of such must be brought speedily before the law we affirm also that all suspects and prisoners in the custody of the law have a civil and human right to safe treatment. I believe the Minister will serve the interest of justice, assuage any fears that exist in the community and will put right the public concern that exists if he extends the terms of reference of the committee to enable them investigate individual complaints and report publicly thereon. Secondly, he should ask them to advise on the most appropriate manner in which an independent appeals tribunal can be established. I ask the Minister to give serious consideration to the points I have raised. I propose to give the rest of my time to the Fine Gael spokesman on the Department of Justice, Deputy O'Keeffe.
