Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 12 July 2017
248. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Justice and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 103 of 23 May 2017, the number that were referred to take no further action; the number that were referred to for further attention; the number referred to for further action that have been fully reviewed and concluded; the number outstanding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33544/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn May 2014 the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) was established to consider allegations of Garda misconduct or deficiencies in the way that gardaí had carried out investigations. A panel consisting of two Senior and five Junior Counsel was established for the purpose, all selected on the basis of their knowledge of the criminal justice system. Its purpose was to triage these allegations to see whether further action was needed and what that action would be.
Recommendations were returned in all of the 320 complaints referred to the Panel, all of which were accepted by my predecessor. In the majority of cases, a total of 249 cases, the recommendation was that no further action of any type should be taken. Reasons stated for such a recommendation included the fact that in some of the cases the complaints fell outside the remit of the review itself, for example cases which queried the decisions of the DPP or the outcome of court cases. In other cases, the reason was that there were still some ongoing matters either before the Courts or by way of investigations by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
In a further 29 cases, while recommending that no further action should be taken with regard to the specific complaint of Garda misconduct, counsel pointed out that there were actions which the Minister might informally request be undertaken in order to be of some practical assistance to the complainant. These included requesting the Garda Commissioner to appoint a liaison officer to keep the complainant updated on ongoing matters while in others the recommendation was that the Commissioner be requested to provide specific information to a complainant, if appropriate. I can inform the Deputy that the appropriate arrangements have been made to have these recommendations followed through.
A total of 42 cases gave rise to a recommendation for formal action by the Minister. These included the use of powers in the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to refer issues to GSOC for investigation under section 102 and requests to the Garda Commissioner under section 41(2) of the 2005 Act to provide a report on certain matters.
In five cases the recommendation was that the Minister should establish inquiries. In May 2017 the then Minister formally established these 5 inquiries. In each case a retired member of the judiciary was appointed to carry out the inquiry and they have begun that work.
In relation to the 42 cases, 18 cases have been concluded and the complainants have been advised of the final outcome. The remainder, including the 5 statutory inquiries, are still ongoing.
