Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 5, line 19, after "Síochána," to insert the following:

"officers of an Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission,".

These amendments try to ensure that the powers of surveillance that we are trying to grant to the Garda Síochána in this Bill are also available to the members of the Defence Forces and to another organisation set up to investigate crime especially in light of the Morris report and the danger that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission would be hampered if it did not have the power to properly investigate crimes that have been drawn to its attention.

We had a good argument on this on Committee Stage. Although I went away and thought about it I could not see the logic of the delay in giving this power to the commission given the scale of the abuse of power that the Morris tribunal investigated. I hope that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission would never have to resort to the use of surveillance devices or ongoing surveillance and that the members of the Garda under investigation would cooperate and prove wrong the charges against them.

To deny these powers to the commission would suggest that the new era that was promised for the Garda and the investigation of abuses of power has not reached its full conclusion and we have a long way to go. It is not a power that any of the organisations that will be mentioned in the Act can use at will but it is important given that the commission often investigates serious injury, or a death in custody, or maybe a cover up. In Donegal explosives were used, hoax bombs were prepared and officers colluded to cover up what was happening. It is sometimes difficult in any organisation to get to the truth of a matter. We should give whatever tools we can to an organisation tasked with investigating these complaints even in the case of a death.

Most cases that come before the commission, like those that came before the Garda Síochána, have been ruled as frivolous but now and again serious charges are made. We need to ensure that the commission has the tools to carry out a full investigation if that is ever required. Hopefully it will not be. There is a change in the culture of the Garda from the top down and I do not expect the power I am proposing to grant to the commission to be used at all. That would be a good sign.

The final amendment in the group tabled by me and Deputy Rabbitte seeks to delete section 17 which ensures that they are not excluded but the preceding amendments name the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission earlier in the Bill so that we do not grant it powers simply by not excluding it but do so specifically.

See this speech in context