Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)

While no one is claiming that the sort of behaviour engaged in by some gardaí in County Donegal is par for the course or endemic throughout the force and throughout the country, we should be aware that there are similar allegations in other counties and that these have not been satisfactorily addressed. More importantly, the mechanisms for properly investigating serious complaints of wrongdoing and corruption by the Garda are still not in place.

Establishing such a proper and independent complaints procedure is the only way to ensure that there is adequate investigation and that matters are not allowed to fester, as they were in County Donegal, to the stage where a public tribunal is necessary to get at the truth. Such an independent complaints body would act as a deterrent to any gardaí tempted to abuse their power in the manner witnessed in County Donegal and would be a reassurance to the majority of decent gardaí, as well as to the public.

There have been other cases in different parts of the country, some of which have been referred to during this debate. In my County Kerry there are several which have not so far been adequately dealt with and in which major doubts have been raised in relation to the conduct of certain gardaí. One case that illustrates the inadequacy of the current complaints system is that of James Sheehan of Ardfert who was arrested in August 1989. Gardaí claimed to have found a loaded Webley revolver in his car with five rounds of ammunition. They claimed that the revolver and ammunition were found in an open dash in the front seat of his car and in a follow-up search they claimed that a further 12 rounds of ammunition were found on a mantelpiece during a search of his home.

In March 1990 it was decided to charge him but the charges were mysteriously dropped a number of months later. James Sheehan was unaware of any of this and was never charged. It is extremely unusual for anyone caught in possession of a weapon not be charged. James Sheehan was adamant that neither the gun nor the ammunition had anything to do with him. From that day to this week he has been trying to ascertain the facts of this case. He filed a complaint to the Garda Complaints Board alleging that he had been subjected not only to false arrest but that he had been physically and verbally abused while in custody. The complaint was heard by Garda Superintendent Wall in 1991 who completely exonerated the gardaí involved in Mr. Sheehan's arrest. The State, which continues to defend itself in an ongoing action by James Sheehan, still bases its case on that report.

Reliance on that procedure continues even though the seventh Morris report cast serious doubts on the Garda Complaints Board with regard to its role in the Donegal cases. It based that criticism on the procedures followed and the fact that the situation was basically one in which the Garda was investigating itself.

Even more extraordinary than the fact that James Sheehan was not charged is that the weapon and the ammunition alleged to have been found, in his car and at his home, were later destroyed during a period when his case against the Garda was still in progress. Finding out exactly what has happened has been a prolonged process, some of it discovered through parliamentary questions that I and other Deputies asked in this Chamber. Replies to parliamentary questions paint a rather strange picture of what has taken place in the case over the years. In an effort to pin down the truth of what had happened to Mr. Sheehan, in 2000 his solicitor requested that the weapon in question be produced. He was told the weapon had been destroyed on 19 July 2000, apparently four weeks before the request was made. It is extraordinary, to say the least, that weapons and ammunition discovered by the Garda were destroyed before legal proceedings had taken place.

In reply to a further parliamentary question tabled on the issue, the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Michael McDowell, stated the gun and ammunition had been destroyed with a large number of other weapons because the barracks where they were being held had been sold.

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