Tom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The information emerging regarding the application and administration of the law by the Garda hierarchy is becoming most disconcerting for citizens. The independent Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has communicated its complete dissatisfaction with the manner in which the Garda hierarchy has been responding to its queries. It is obvious that the office of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is being treated in an arrogant and disrespectful manner by the Garda hierarchy.

The Minister stated he received information by way of an aside about a Deputy allegedly using his mobile telephone while driving. Two issues arise in this context. Either the gardaí who stopped the Deputy in question should have issued penalty points at the time and entered this information in the PULSE system or, having decided not to do so, it should have been the end of the matter. The Minister's explanation that he learned about this incident through an aside reminds one of the language used by dramatists such as the famous John B. Keane who, when writing his manuscripts, used to include asides to guide his stage actors and directors. The Minister and Garda Commissioner should behave as befits the holders of professional constitutional positions.

The Minister's explanation in response to Deputy Mattie McGrath's allegation that he failed to complete a breathalyser test does not answer the question people have been asking. The Garda Commissioner must state what procedure should be followed by gardaí when such circumstances arise. If it was or is the case that people are required to give blood or urine samples at the appropriate police station, why did this not occur on the occasion acknowledged by the Minister as having taken place three or four years ago? The Commissioner must speak with lucidity and clarify the position.

A former Garda chief superintendent, Mr. John O'Brien, who carried out an examination on behalf of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in 2008, states in today's Irish Independent newspaper that he highlighted many of the current issues, including individual Garda discretion, in his 2008 report. He states: "The idea that 13,000 gardaí could somehow operate individual discretion is not tenable." It is unfair to place the burden of responsibility on individual members of the Garda. Clearly, no action was taken on foot of the report produced by Mr. O'Brien, the former head of the Garda traffic policy division.

The dogs in the street know that appointments to the higher echelons of the Garda authority have been substantially politicised. Members of the public take the view that the ruling elite has become so incestuous in the making of appointments that unethical behaviour can be sometimes present. For this reason, when the current Garda Commissioner retires, he should be replaced by a head of police of a major city in another jurisdiction, for example, the United States, Canada or the United Kingdom. The appointment should be for a period of five years in order that the new Commissioner will not be contaminated by the politicised and incestuous culture under which gardaí have been forced to work. I ask the Minister to cleanse the system and, failing that, he should move on. As the former Taoiseach, the late Jack Lynch, stated in the 1970s, the law must be uniform in its application.

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