Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Since the first report was published last year, the Minister and his Department have been working on the Bill and on the amendments to the Bill. The Garda Síochána Bill has been passing through the House, and Mr. Justice Morris's statements have not been ignored. If Deputy Rabbitte had been listening to me, I stated that the Minister is now bringing forward an amendment to the Bill to require gardaí to account for their actions. This issue and a host of other areas which he is examining has been identified by the tribunal. Clearly, the Minister has tried to follow the contents of both reports and to set up the independent investigations Mr. Justice Morris recommends as well as an inspectorate to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of the force.

These are the issues raised as shortcomings in the present system. As recently as today, we heard Mr. Gordon Holmes state in the Garda Síochána Complaints Board report that a wall of silence comes up when one attempts to investigate some of these matters. In this Bill, the Minister addresses these issues. The establishment of an ombudsman commission to investigate independently future complaints about the gardaí, and the establishment of an inspectorate to examine how the Garda works effectively are not insubstantial changes. In addition, the Minister has a host of other amendments the House will debate over the next few weeks. I do not see how he is missing the thrust of the report. The House will have an opportunity to debate the report on Friday and if Members highlight these issues, I am sure the Minister will examine them. Surely however, the kernel of the recommendations is that we must have an ombudsman process and an inspectorate process independent of the Garda to examine issues. This is not dodging the point of independent investigation.

As far as the issue raised about the years 1997 or 1999 is concerned, the Minister has stated that there was a delay in getting some of these files. These relate to matters and details the Minister has dealt with before and are statements of fact as to what happened at that period.

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