Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I acknowledged earlier, there are errors in the drafting of this amendment. Of course, the Garda Inspectorate is not relevant to this debate. I will not be pressing the amendments because they are not worded properly. However, the objective of the amendments is to ensure that the issues Deputy Wallace and Deputy Daly have outlined do not continue. People are having to wait crazy periods for an outcome. A large percentage of cases are being referred back to An Garda Síochána or are being dealt with by gardaí seconded to GSOC. We need to get to a stage where only minor matters can be addressed within the office, for example, a case in which a garda did not get back to a person or some other minor complaints that could be dealt with easily. This was the view of the justice committee. However, anything of substance should not be investigated by a serving, seconded or former member of An Garda Síochána. There must be complete independence.

There should be a pool of independent investigators or options available. Clearly GSOC has not developed this enough because we can see backlogs in cases, even those which should be straightforward. Some are taking far too long. What is the outcome? Public confidence in GSOC simply does not exist. If a constituent comes to any Member, he or she would advise that constituent of the option to make a complaint to GSOC. However, the perception is there is no point because either it would be investigated by the garda involved or it would take too long. Unfortunately, that has become the reality. That is why this Bill is so important. We need a fresh start. We need to demonstrate to the public that the commission has teeth and resources, that it can get things done sharply and that it is genuinely independent in its role.

I am not going to press the amendments because they are not worded properly or as they should have been. However, I call on the Minister to take on board the intention of the amendments and to work with us. I figure we will have to come back again sometime soon to put in place another Garda Síochána (amendment) Bill and to arrange for further powers to be given to the Garda ombudsman. There will be several votes in the House tonight if we cannot get agreement. This is part of an ongoing discussion with the Minister. She may not agree with us tonight but I hope that over time and as we prove that things are not working properly we can revisit them. I will not press it but I call on the Minister to take on board and listen clearly to my intention. Then perhaps we could address it through further amendments. If this does not happen tonight or tomorrow then perhaps it will happen in the near future.

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