Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2017
104. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of section 102(1) referrals to GSOC from Garda headquarters in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017 relating to cases in which there was no death involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52493/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra105. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of section 83(2) complaints received by An Garda Síochána that were referred to GSOC in each of the years 2010 to 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52494/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 104 and 105 together.
The following information has been provided to my Department by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission upon request.
I can advise the Deputy that complaints made under section 83(2) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 are those that are either made directly to the Garda Commissioner, to a member of An Garda Síochána at a Garda station, or to a Garda member at or above the rank of chief superintendent at a place other than a Garda station.
Such complaints are commonly referred by GSOC as section 85 complaints, taking into consideration the section of the Act that provides for An Garda Síochána to forward these complaints to GSOC.
To facilitate the public in making a complaint at a Garda station, GSOC provides complaint forms (GSOC1 forms) that can be completed by a member of a public at a Garda station and submitted to GSOC from there. GSOC has advised that as both referrals by An Garda Síochána and the GSOC1 forms, submitted to a Garda station by a member of the public, are identified as originating from An Garda Síochána, their case management system classifies the Method of Receipt of Complaint as “Garda Station”.
In relation to section 102(1) referrals made to GSOC by An Garda Síochána, this information is published in the Ombudsman Commission's annual report. The power to refer such matters under this section to GSOC is delegated by the Garda Commissioner to Superintendents. This responsibility involves a decision by those appropriate officers as to whether an incident involving the conduct of a member of An Garda Síochána may have caused the death or serious harm to a person, and may warrant independent investigation.
For convenience, I am providing the following two tables, the first of which indicates the number of section 83(2) complaints referred to GSOC and the second table indicates the number of section 102(1) referrals to GSOC from An Garda Síochána that did not involve a fatality.
Complaints made under section 83 (2):
|
Year |
Method of Receipt of Complaint |
Number of Complaints |
|
2010 |
Garda Station |
444 |
|
2011 |
Garda Station |
458 |
|
2012 |
Garda Station |
312 |
|
2013 |
Garda Station |
307 |
|
2014 |
Garda Station |
306 |
|
2015 |
Garda Station |
254 |
|
2016 |
Garda Station |
180 |
|
2017 (to (to end of November 2017) |
Garda Station |
221 |
Referrals, non-fatal cases, under section 102 (1):
|
Year |
Number of Cases |
|
2010 |
92 |
|
2011 |
72 |
|
2012 |
59 |
|
2013 |
33 |
|
2014 |
46 |
|
2015 |
38 |
|
2016 |
39 |
|
2017 (to end of November 2017) |
12 |
