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

While the decision to extend the period within which a complaint must be made from six months to one year is welcome, it is not sufficient. Even the period of two years prescribed in our amendment will not be adequate in some instances. Perhaps we should consider writing into the legislation a series of special circumstances for which the deadline could be extended beyond two years. The current proposal is to extend the deadline to two years for cases that involve the circumstances outlined by Deputy Wallace.

We have encountered many cases involving people who did not realise the role gardaí had played in events that impacted on their lives. The role of gardaí may only come to light more than two years after a tragedy, for example. In such circumstances, a person who takes a case to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission will be told it is too late to have a complaint investigated.

We are discussing an oversight body or complaints board for the Garda Síochána. This week, I dealt with a case involving a couple of individuals in Galway who were involved in a property deal in Romania with two gardaí. According to the individuals in question, the gardaí in question embezzled funds of approximately €500,000. They reported the crime to the immediate superior of the gardaí, the then Chief Superintendent Ó Cualáin who has since been promoted to the position of acting Deputy Commissioner. In correspondence sent to the then chief superintendent they highlighted their allegation that gardaí had been involved in what was effectively a case of embezzlement, which is a very serious crime. They had information to show that Garda fax machines were used in certain transactions. The chief superintendent indicated the complaint would be investigated but was subsequently moved to another area. When another chief superintendent was appointed, the individuals in question chased up the case but did not get anywhere. Having given the Garda the option of investigating the matter internally, the individuals found that their complaint was not listened to and they made a complaint to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. GSOC decided it could not deal with the case because it was four years old, which is not good enough.

Many of the cases that come to our attention are heartbreaking and involve people who are desperately seeking an acknowledgement of a wrong that has been done to them. Time limits should not apply in such scenarios. We must be flexible and show an understanding that some people are knocked back by an event to such an extent that they cannot take a complaint immediately and need more time. The one-year time limit is inadequate. Two years would be a preferable timeframe in the serious circumstances Deputy Wallace outlined.

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