Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, together.

I begin by apologising to Deputies if my voice is not very clear. I seem to have some type of bug, but I will try my best.

Before giving my reply to these questions, I take the opportunity to pay tribute to the work done by An Garda Síochána, the Defence Forces and Civil Defence in recent days in helping people affected by flooding in various locations throughout the State. Extraordinary work is being done and we are seeing great voluntarism on the part of members of Civil Defence and great commitment by An Garda Síochána and the Permanent Defence Force. That support for communities is very welcome and will continue to be in the coming days in the context of the dreadful weather conditions we are experiencing. Wearing both of my caps as Minister for Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence, I thank all those involved in the relief efforts, including those engaged in planning in advance of the severe weather.

Last week I referred allegations by Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former garda John Wilson of multiple incidents of wrongful cancellation by members of the Garda Síochána of fixed-charge notices to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. I am giving to the ombudsman commission all of the documentation in the possession of my Department relevant to these matters and I have requested the Committee of Public Accounts to do the same. I made this referral under section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 which permits me to "request the Garda Ombudsman Commission to investigate any matter that appears to the Minister to indicate that a member of the Garda Síochána may have (a) committed an offence, or (b) behaved in a manner that would justify disciplinary proceedings" and where I consider it desirable in the public interest to do so. This is the dual test for a referral under section 102 of the Act. The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission can, in accordance with that section and on its own initiative, investigate any matter by reference to the same dual test. It was open to the commission to engage in this matter prior to my referral had it sought to do so.

The ombudsman commissioners, during their appearance before the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions in July 2013, referred to a recent letter received by them from that committee and furnishing, for their consideration, a copy of the O'Mahoney report and accompanying report from the Garda professional standards unit. The commissioners noted that I, as Minister for Justice and Equality, had referred this matter to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality and the Garda Inspectorate. They stated they had decided against opening an investigation but that this decision was open-ended and their position in the matter was reserved.

In circumstances where, notwithstanding a detailed Garda investigation into the allegations, continuing and additional allegations had been made and where An Garda Síochána, in the context of discussions at the Committee of Public Accounts, was being drawn into a matter of political controversy, I concluded that, in the public interest, it was appropriate to refer the matter to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. I did so on 28 January 2014. The timeframe for this investigation is a matter for the ombudsman commission which must be allowed the time and space to conduct a thorough investigation into all of the allegations and the circumstances in which they were made and pursued. The commission has made clear its expectation of full co-operation by all relevant parties with the investigation and the Garda Commissioner has given an assurance in respect of An Garda Síochána.

On the question of access by the ombudsman commission to the PULSE system, new protocols were agreed to last year between the Garda Commissioner and the chairperson of the Garda ombudsman commission. These revised protocols provide that the commission has access to the PULSE system through the two Garda superintendents working on secondment with the commission. In this context, under the 2005 Act, a member of An Garda Síochána, during a period of temporary service with the ombudsman commission, is not subject to the direction or control of the Garda Commissioner. However, notwithstanding the above and especially in respect of this investigation, where information on the PULSE system - how it is recorded and the detail of the information - is of central relevance, the Garda Commissioner and I are agreed that the ombudsman commission will have direct access to the system, without the need to go through the intermediary of a seconded member of An Garda Síochána. In the future, that will be the case both for this and any other investigation in which the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is engaged. The revised protocols will be amended accordingly and arrangements made to put in place the necessary technical infrastructure and training required to facilitate this access.

The possibility has been raised of an alternative referral to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission under section 106 of the 2005 Act. The purpose of a section 106 referral is for an examination by the commission of Garda practice, policy or procedure for the purpose of preventing complaints arising. There are two points to make. First, a section 106 referral is for an examination of systems, not individual allegations or incidents. Second, it must be for the purpose of preventing complaints which, under the Act, means complaints by members of the public who are directly affected by or who witness Garda conduct, rather than allegations by a member of the force. Clearly, whatever misgivings there may be about cancellations of fixed-charge notices, complaints will not be made by the members of the public who benefited from these cancellations.

It is clear, therefore, that a referral under section 102 of the 2005 Act, rather than under section 106, is the only way in which these allegations can be investigated.

See this speech in context