Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government, as part of its response to the report by Seán Guerin SC, took the initiative to have an independent review carried out of the allegations of Garda misconduct which had been submitted to my Department, to An Taoiseach and to a number of other public representatives. This unprecedented decision was taken with a view to getting an objective and independent legal view on whether further action might be warranted in any case.

As the Deputy is aware, a panel consisting of two senior and five junior counsel was established for that purpose. This independent review panel has been examining 311 cases referred to it and is now nearing completion of its work. This is a significant number of cases, and somewhat higher than originally estimated, but I thought it was important to refer all of the allegations and cases that have been made to me as Minister, or to the Taoiseach or other representatives in the House, whether they came directly from complainants or through representative groups such as Justice4All, with, I would highlight, only the most minimal filtering out of cases which did not actually relate to the Garda Síochána. This means that counsel are examining a very wide range of cases, some of which deal directly with the Garda Síochána but others of which extend to other aspects of the criminal justice system beyond my remit, such as the prosecution and trial of offences. It is also worth noting that the cases contain a very wide variety of allegations in terms of seriousness.

I assure the Deputy that where further investigation is recommended by the review, that will occur. However, I would also make the point again that, in many cases, counsel may recommend that no further action can reasonably be taken. This might be, for example, because a case has already been through due process, such as a full investigation by GSOC or a court hearing, even though the complainant remains unhappy with the outcome. The crucial point, however, is that every case will have been reviewed by independent counsel, who will have made an objective recommendation.

The panel has made significant progress at this point and the submission of recommendations to me is being prepared by officials in the Department. Every recommendation will be very carefully considered but, as a matter of general principle, let me say clearly that, in coming to a decision in each case, I will be very strongly guided by the independent advice that is being given to me. Quite clearly, as we have engaged counsel for this review, it would be entirely appropriate to be guided by their advice. There will be no undue delay in the process of notifying complainants of the outcome of the review, a process that I expect will start shortly.

Where counsel do recommend further investigations, I will be guided by that. There are a number of possible options - for example, referral to GSOC - but any recommendation for referral of a case to a commission of investigation will be very carefully considered, including whether this could be achieved by way of amending the terms of reference of the Guerin commission or the establishment of a separate commission.

See this speech in context