Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

It is fair to say there is now a spotlight on the gardaí that we have not seen since the days of the Morris tribunal. We were told then that it was a few bad apples in Donegal but what was revealed was a systemic problem. The solutions put in place at that time have clearly failed and the systemic problem, the culture to which Deputy Wallace refers, remains.

It has taken about two years for the Government to recognise the points we have been making about the need for change but we want to state clearly that recognising the need is one thing; delivering that change is an entirely different matter. We are a million miles away from delivering the change necessary.

In many ways things are exactly as they were, and I will deal with some of those issues. I apologise to the Minister of State and to Deputy Collins for being late but I was in the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, dealing with my own complaint, which is in the public domain and therefore we do not need to be secretive about it. That complaint stems back almost 20 months - almost two years - in regard to an incident whereby I was arrested on suspicion of drink driving, and that information leaked to the press less than 24 hours later in an effort to discredit me at the peak of the time we were raising the penalty points issue.

Through dealing with that case and meeting all the other people who have come forward since we raised those issues, we have had considerable dealings with GSOC during that time. If anyone has had any involvement with it and met any of its members, the only conclusion they could come to is that this organisation has been set up to fail. There is no other explanation for it. In the early days we though these fellows were in there to make it look good and to deliberately cover up but having met many of the staff, I genuinely believe there is a very good capability in GSOC. There are some excellent people working for that organisation, but it will fail in what it is doing because it is bereft of resources and staff and is constructed in a manner which prevents them from seriously investigating and getting results in many of the cases to which we urgently need an answer. There are limitations on what they can investigate, a high level of Garda self-investigation, which is laughable, and some of the time ceilings are not practical.

If we are serious, we need a more thorough overhaul of GSOC than what is proposed, although I welcome the measures in place. We must put in the public domain how things were. That means saying many citizens have been the victims of injustice at the hands of elements in An Garda Síochána. They are the very people to whom one would think of turning to seek help and support in one's hour of need, but, in some instances, they have become the biggest harassers and a nightmare for citizens. Cases include the publican to whom Deputy Mick Wallace referred and it is not an isolated example.

Allegations about penalty points terminations which we were told were being made under a new system are under investigation because of breaches of procedures, with people having penalty points terminated on a repeat basis. We have seen evidence of this and it will be demonstrated to be true.

There was not just one whistleblowers but a number of them. In May the former Deputy and current MEP Luke 'Ming' Flanagan named and outlined the case of another Garda whistleblower in the midlands. The man concerned brought forward serious and definitive information on Garda involvement in the drugs trade and people being fitted to sell drugs. This information which I have seen is indisputable. Four months ago the issue was raised of members of An Garda Síochána being involved in the drugs trade. Deputy Finian McGrath was making points about the serious drugs problem in our society. It is, undoubtedly, true that that is the case and when this activity is ongoing four months later and the garda against whom the complaint has been made is still in place, something is not right. All of the murmurings and nice gestures of Garda administration and the sentiments expressed that we were on the verge of a new dawn mean nothing while these matters are continuing. We have taken the Minister's word as to her intent and desire to see some of these things changed. We are not, however, naive enough to think the best Minister in the world could transform the position overnight, but much more must and could be done.

The first test will be in deciding the person who gets the job of Garda Commissioner. Deputy Finian McGrath is quite wrong. If anyone linked with the existing hierarchy in An Garda Síochána is given the job, it will be a licence to say things will not change. That does not mean disrespect to any one person individually, but it is a reflection on the fact that they have come from a flawed system. The system is based on patronage and with whom people play golf dictates who gains promotion. Many able people have been bypassed. We must, therefore, look outside to shake things up.

The Minister has indicated her desire to move forward on some of the other injustices linked with the operation of An Garda Síochána. In advance of the summer, she set up a review panel to examine cases, many of which had come through our offices. We met them and took up the issues involved. We are deeply concerned at the responses given to the Opposition justice spokespersons for other parties at Question Time. Last month the Minister indicated that there would not be much of a follow-up on the cases mentioned. If there is not, we have a serious problem. One of the cases involves Cynthia Owen, whose case is in the public domain. She was a young girl in Dún Laoghaire who had been impregnated at the age of 11 years. Her baby had been murdered and the body found in an alleyway. Her other baby was similarly taken away. She had been the victim of a paedophile ring which involved a number of gardaí. With her solicitor, she has been trying to get information on the review panel and is really frustrated. It has been in operation for months, but they cannot get answers to their queries. The solicitor has been dealing with the gardaí handling the case and they have not been contacted by anyone in the Department of Justice and Equality or from the review panel set up by the Minister. They have not been asked for information. Cynthia and her solicitor do not know what files are being reviewed and what questions are being asked. Do they have all of the information? It is a serious issue because it is a clear-cut case with much documented evidence.

There is the similar case of Fr. Niall Molloy, the family of whom have submitted freedom of information requests to the Department of Justice and Equality about the investigation into his murder in 1985. After two months the Department responded with inaccurate information and the family must appeal to seek more information. The Minister has not met them. The previous Minister appointed Mr. Dominic McGinn to look into the case, but he has not yet issued his report. We were told this would be done in the summer.

These two cases are high profile, but there are 200 other people whose case are not high profile. However, they are just as important in terms of injustice. They do not know the people on the panel and how the Minister picked them. They have no right to talk to them. Some of the documents submitted which I have seen are inadequate, but some of the people involved do not have the wherewithal to express themselves them in the clear legalistic manner required. They would benefit from meeting someone to discuss their case.

GSOC is hamstrung and it took 20 months to investigate my case. It also has many other cases to deal with. These things take time and resources are needed if we are to do it properly. We are worried about the way the panel is shaping up. If it comes back to state nothing can be done and that the cases have already been referred to GSOC, people will have already heard these excuses. The Minister said it would be better and different.

My final point concerns political policing, an issue we must examine. We must decouple the two. Let us imagine that a shooting takes place outside a school in suburban Dublin, with a parent being shot in the middle of the day in Balbriggan. These are things we never thought we would see in Ireland. There were warnings about the activity which took place around the school in the run-up to it. There had been a series of incidents of illegality in the feud, with children nearly being run over on the road. People in the area knew insufficient had been action taken. On the same day more than 25 gardaí were standing around policing citizens at a peaceful protest against water meter installations in Edenmore. There is a concern, which is not doing An Garda Síochána any good, that the force is acting as an agent of Irish Water, as it did in the case of Shell.

We must examine all of these issues. We have had a recognition of the need for change, but delivering on it is very different. We would like to see a lot more being done.

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