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

The Minister will be aware that the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality was tasked with examining the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and considering ways of strengthening GSOC, having a policing authority, ensuring the accountability of the Garda and setting up new structures. One of our recommendations was to replace the current three-person commission with one ombudsman, as is the case in the North and other jurisdictions. We need to move to such a structure where the buck would stop with one person.

In a number of controversies in recent years, there was speculation about how the system of three people making a collective decision worked. Consider the various ombudsmen we have, from the Ombudsman, Mr. Peter Tyndall, to the sectoral ombudsmen. Each comprises just one person and the buck stops with him or her, although each has senior advisers. I am disappointed the Minister has not accepted this model. I have no issue with the ability of Ms Justice Ring. I am sure she will make an excellent chairperson. My issue is that I would like one person to be the ombudsman and to speak on behalf of that organisation.

The other issue I wish to raise is the powers given to the ombudsman. The House saw some amendments to the legislation earlier this year that strengthened the ombudsman's powers, but I would like to see them strengthened further. Something about which I am concerned and which I will revisit when we deal with the Garda authority legislation is the matter of the independent adjudicator.

The Minister will recall that Conor Brady, formerly GSOC member, at a conference organised by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Law Society of Ireland, suggested that where An Garda Síochána could not give information to the Ombudsman - soon to be the Garda authority - for security reasons, there be an independent adjudicator, a member of the Judiciary rather than the Minister, to decide if the grounds for withholding information are legitimate. Perhaps we might revisit this through the Garda authority legislation as it makes its way through the Houses.

Resources for GSOC will be critical. It has been tasked with looking at the area of penalty points and will have more and more responsibilities. There are over 300 cases alleging Garda malpractice and I imagine more work will fall on GSOC. One of the concerns the public has is the length of time GSOC can take to carry out investigations, which impacts on its credibility and the confidence of the public. It needs the requisite resources and the Minister should engage with the commissioners around this issue to make sure they have the resources required to deliver investigations within a reasonable period of time.

I ask the Minister to look again at the need for just one Garda ombudsman, similar to the ombudsman for every other sector on these islands. In line with the all-party recommendation of the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, I also ask her to look at the issue of resourcing GSOC adequately and to look at the issue of security. She should put in place an independent adjudicator to make it clear to the public that full accountability and oversight exist as required across the whole spectrum.

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