We are used to thinking of police reform as an issue to do with the Six Counties but if anybody is in doubt as to whether fundamental police reform is urgently required in this State they need look no further than yesterday's issue of The Irish Times which contained three separate stories about the misbehaviour of members of the Garda. One garda accepted bribes, another in Louth was involved in child pornography and dozens of gardaí in Dublin refused to co-operate with the Garda Complaints Board to protect their colleagues from disciplinary action as a result of their reaction to a non-violent demonstration. Articles were also published in other publications on the same day relating to the investigation of the entire Donegal division of the Garda Síochána by the Morris tribunal. There have been many Garda irregularities and abuses in other parts of the State over the years, more recently during the election campaign in north Kerry.
Society needs a police service and the police service requires the support of the community which it serves. It is imperative that there is total transparency and trust between them. The Minister is aware that in many parts of the country that trust is long gone. It is imperative that the issues of Garda misconduct are thoroughly investigated and appropriate disciplinary measures taken. The investigations must be independent, fair and transparent and must be seen to be such by all involved.
There is corruption, wrongdoing and bad practice within the Garda Síochána at many levels and ranks and it reaches all the way to the top. Fundamental reform of our policing system has never been more urgent and it is just as much a priority for this State as it is for the North. The Minister has recognised this need and has announced a package of reforms, but they do not go far enough. Comprehensive root and branch reforms are needed and they must be prioritised on the Government's agenda. The Minister's proposals for an inspectorate is not enough. The programme for Government mentions an independent inspectorate with the powers of an ombudsman, but there is no valid reason we should not go ahead and establish an ombudsman. All signatories to the Good Friday Agreement agreed it is essential that policing structures and arrangements comply with certain acceptable standards. The practice of gardaí investigating themselves is not only flawed but goes against everything that could be construed as being in the public interest.
We must end this deeply flawed practice of internal investigations. There must be an end to the hush-money in the form of out of court settlements and we must get rid of the toothless Garda Complaints Board which admitted in its own annual report that it is not sufficiently independent from the Garda to be effective. Sinn Féin proposes a range of measures for police reform in this State, and they do not differ significantly from those which we promote in the North. These include the establishment of a fully independent, transparent and representative policing board, the establishment of a fully independent Garda ombudsman to investigate complaints against the force as a matter of priority, human rights training for all Garda and the mandatory video-taping of interviews with suspects.
We believe that the Morris tribunal as presently constituted is unlikely to get to the core of corruption and abuse by the Garda. Its terms of reference are still too limited. Sinn Féin sup ports the call of the McBrearty family for the expansion of the terms of reference of the tribunal. The Garda Commissioner, the Attorney General, the DPP, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, his predecessor and the Donegal State solicitor all have knowledge of the affair. All of those individuals, organisations and State bodies who have any level of connection to this case must be called to account. The McBreartys and others have to find out why the Garda and the State authorities initially failed to act on serious accusations of Garda corruption and intimidation.
The tribunal's terms of reference must also be widened to cover the killing by loyalists of the Donegal Sinn Féin councillor Eddie Fullerton in his home in 1991. We are also concerned that the tribunal must not be compromised by the appointment of a head investigator, Garda Michael Finn. Given the outstanding question marks that hang over his involvement in the Nicky Kelly case, he is arguably not impartial and he is certainly not seen to be impartial. Sinn Féin will have grave concerns about the effectiveness of the Morris tribunal if it does not widen its remit. We want it to work and it can work but the terms of reference should be widened by this House and not by the judge himself, as he has stated. It is up to the Minister to take responsibility for this and not to pass the buck.
