Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister says the public has confidence in GSOC. That is not true. The Minister knows that it does not. As she said in response to the previous question, many complaints are based on the fact that people did not get satisfaction from GSOC. It is not that the people in GSOC are bad people, rather it does not have the potential to be the body it was intended to be. We all realise that it was structured in the first place not to succeed and sadly that remains the case.

In 2013, the UN rapporteur on human rights expressed concerns about how GSOC worked and said that the excessive dependence on the Department of Justice and Equality was worrying. It said that it should be an independent body. The Garda Síochána (Amendment) (No.3) Bill 2014 that the Minister brought in does not make it independent. It is too dependent on the Department and the Minister. The Minister has retained control over its ability to investigate the Garda Commissioner. It is not allowed to investigate retired gardaí. It does not expand the grounds of admissibility, does not require mandatory involvement of GSOC in all investigations, does not prohibit gardaí from serving in GSOC and does not reform the informal resolution mechanism. It was a very disappointing effort. The lack of resources is crucial. The Government will not get a GSOC that is fit for purpose until it gives it far more resources than it has done. If it wants it to work properly, it will have to resource it.

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