Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Tá a lán líomhaintí, ní hamháin os comhair na Dála ach os comhair na fiosrúcháin difriúla atá ar siúl. Measaim go bhfuil sé ceart go mbeadh muid ag déanamh cinnte de, ag deireadh na bhfiosrúchán siúd ar fad, go mbeadh muinín ag an bpobal ní hamháin as An Garda Síochána ach as an gcóras dlí agus cirt ina iomlán chomh maith. Ní hamháin gur cheist maidir leis An Garda Síochána atáimid ag plé leis ach ceisteanna maidir le GSOC, an confidential recipient agus an tAire féin chomh maith. Sin iad na ceithre colúin atá i gceist. Muna thagann arís ár muinín san Gharda Síochána agus a bhaineann leo agus sa chóras dlí agus cirt, is drochlá é don daonlathas agus don Stáit.

Is fíor-líomhaintí tromchúiseach atá leagtha i gcoinne ní hamháin an tAire féin agus an Garda ach i gcoinne an Taoiseach chomh maith nár déanadh obair tapaidh go leor maidir leis na líomhaintí a bhí sa dossier a chur an Sergeant Maurice McCabe os a chomhair agus os comhair daoine difriúla thar tréimhse. Ní dhearnamar práinn mór go leor agus níor thugamar tábhacht mór go leor do na ceisteanna móra a d'ardaigh sé. Tá siad sin fós os ár gcomhair.

An tseachtain seo caite, chuir an tAire an iar-bhreitheamh Cooke i mbun fiosrúcháin maidir le GSOC, an cúléisteacht agus cad a tharla ansin. Chomh maith leis sin, tá an tAire tar éis a fhógairt go mbeidh an abhcóide, Sean Guerin, ag déileáil leis an gceist, ag tabhairt sracfhéachaint ar doiciméadaí atá ar fáil idir an tAire agus An Garda Síochána faoi cad atá i measc an phobail anois, is é sin, an méid a bhí Sergeant Maurice McCabe ag cur trasna. Chomh maith leis sin - níl fhios agam cá bhfuil sé anois - bhí fiosrúcháin inmheánach laistigh den Roinn Dlí agus Cirt agus Comhionannais maidir le mo líomhaintí céanna. Níl a fhios agam an bhfuil tuairisc le teacht, an bhfuil sé tagtha nó an bhfuil in ann dó in aon chor laistigh den Roinn. Ag an am céanna, tá cás san Ard-Chúirt maidir le Sylvia Roche Kelly.

Rud eile nach bhfuil mórán daoine ag díriú isteach air agus rud a dhéanfaidh tarrthála amach anseo ar an tslí a oibríonn An Garda Síochána ná Cigireacht an Gharda Síochána. Sa deireadh thiar thall, siadsan a fheiceann ar conas mar a oibríonn An Garda Síochána, conas mar a déileálann siad le fiosrúcháin - ní hamháin an ceann seo ach le gnáth-fiosrúcháin - conas a déileálann siad leis an bpobal agus conas a déileálann a bhaill lena chéile. Bunaíodh an cigireacht faoi stiúir Kathleen O'Toole, an póilín ó Mheiriceá, chun a dhéanamh cinnte de go mbeadh an caighdeán agus an bealach oibre is fearr ar domhain againn sa Stáit seo. Go dtí seo, níl sé sin le feiceáil.

Tá a lán os ár gcomhair, nílimid tagtha fiú ar tús an scéil seo agus measaim go bhfuil níos mó le teacht chun cinn. Sin an fáth, measaim, go mbeadh sé i bhfad níos éasca dúinn sa deireadh thiar thall é seo a thógáil as an gciorcal, an arena, polaitiúil agus é a chur isteach i gcoimisiún fiosrúcháin seachas é a thabhairt do abhcóide a mbeidh tuairisc aige roimh nó i ndiaidh na Cásca beagnach ag an am céanna agus a mbeidh tuairisc ón mBreitheamh Cooke. Dá mbeadh sé seo go léir curtha isteach i gcoimisiún fiosrúcháin amháin, bheadh a fhios againn ag deireadh an scéil go mbeadh tuairiscí firiciúil tagtha os ár gcomhair agus go mbeadh muid in ann obair dá réir. Má thagann ceachtar den dá fiosrúcháin atá mé tar éis a luadh chun cinn le moltaí nó le cásanna cúirte nó fiú le cásanna gur chóir go mbeadh ag dul os comhair na cúirte, ní bheidh siads in ann é sin a dhéanamh. Beidh orainn teacht ar ais anseo agus coimisiún fiosrúcháin a bhunú. Faoin am go mbeidh na fiosrúcháin a luadh mé críochnaithe, beidh muid trí mhí taobh thiar den áit gur chóir go mbeadh muid.

I have a problem concerning where we are at the moment. At this stage, we should have passed this and other justice related matters that have come to the fore in recent weeks to a commission of inquiry. Such is the level of public concern, including concern in this House, over the possibility of malpractice, incompetence or worse at a level within An Garda Síochána, it should have been taken out of the political arena and given to a commission that could have investigated it from start to finish.

What has happened, however, is that a barrister will scan a number of documents, but why was that not done in the first instance? These documents have been in the possession of the Minister and others for quite a long time, but they did not receive proper, urgent analysis. This matter is so serious that a commission of inquiry is required and it should have happened from the start. We would then have been further down the road towards getting the facts by the end of this session or early in the next session.

Neither Mr. Justice Cooke, whom the Minister has tasked with dealing with the GSOC scandal, nor Mr. Sean Guerin SC, to whom other questions have been referred, can come up with statements of fact that can be used in court or to charge somebody if they are perceived to be guilty of incompetence, malpractice or worse, as has been alleged.

Much of the current situation results from failures during the earlier passage of the Garda Síochána Bill which has been enacted. We did not have a Minister who believed that the culture within An Garda Síochána at a certain level was such that it required the equivalent of what was introduced in the North. I remember arguing across the Chamber and in committee with the previous Minister, Michael McDowell, at that time that a more robust Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was needed. In fact, I argued that it should be an individual, such as the Police Ombudsman in the North. I also argued for more resources and that the office should be built on the same scale, with equivalent pro rata resources and staff as in the North. Mr. McDowell refused, however, saying that the scale of the problems within An Garda Síochána were not such that it required that.

We have had the Morris report since then and now have a scandal concerning penalty points. In addition, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission says it does not have sufficient resources to address in a timely fashion all the complaints it has received. That is one of the key elements, so it has either sought additional resources or changes in its remit to allow it to deal summarily with some of the complaints. That is one of the reasons I believe the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has not been able to deal with the plethora of complaints from the Shell to Sea protestors. Quite a big dossier of complaints was handed to the Taoiseach, which concerned the way in which An Garda Síochána handled those protestors in Mayo.

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