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

I would be interested to see the figures on the timescale, which would help to inform us. I believe Deputy Wallace will be shown to be correct that the numbers are relatively small in terms of the difference between one and two years, and I believe it would bring a certain consistency to this. For example, where somebody was to initiate civil proceedings against An Garda Síochána, there is in many instances a two-year period when they can do so, therefore, I do not see why the GSOC issue would not be similar. Perhaps one of the positives out of all the recent controversies is the fact there is now a far greater awareness about GSOC. It is almost a household symbol or abbreviation whereas, even two years ago, no one, including probably half of this House, had heard of it.

While I accept the Minister's point that we should be careful about saying people are not happy about GSOC, I would qualify that by saying that clearly some people are unhappy with it. Those we have encountered who are involved with GSOC are very talented but it must be said that those who are most unhappy with it are working there. They feel it has been constituted in a manner which prevents them from carrying our their duty, which is to be an ombudsman commission for the Garda, because of the many problems that have been highlighted over the past two years.

The problem the members of the public have with GSOC concerns what happens after a complaint is made. We all know it is only in a minority of cases that GSOC would recommend criminal sanction against a garda, so it is proportionately a very small number that gets referred to the DPP. However, even of that small number, practically nothing is actually actioned by the DPP later on. That is the source of people's discontent. When the file in regard to the Kieran Boylan inquiry was sent from GSOC, there was a recommendation to the DPP that criminal prosecutions would take place against gardaí, and the DPP did nothing. That is why people are aggrieved.

The corollary is that, when we are looking at extending the time, it link in with the issue of retired gardaí being excluded from the legislation, because the longer the timescale, the greater the chances that some people might have retired. However, it must be borne in mind that they would have been at one stage members of the Garda. We need to look at that but unfortunately is not covered by the legislation.

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