Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this opportunity to debate the report of the O’Higgins commission. Mr. Justice O’Higgins is a distinguished retired judge of the High Court, and I take the opportunity to formally record my thanks and appreciation to him for his thorough, thoughtful and clear report on matters which, as we know, were far from clear when this process started. We were fortunate to engage the expertise, experience and wisdom of a man with decades of immersion in the judicial system and all the insights derived from that. The O'Higgins commission was conducted to the highest professional standards and the O'Higgins report is clear and unequivocal.

Last Saturday I attended, with An Taoiseach, a ceremony in Dublin Castle commemorating the 88 members of An Garda Síochána who have fallen in the line of duty. Inevitably, it was moving to be there, and all the more so when collectively we tried to comfort those who had recently been bereaved by the loss of the young garda lives taken away by very evil individuals. It struck me that whatever controversies arise in An Garda Síochána, whatever the problems that need to be addressed, we should never fail to show our support and appreciation for the work they do. Since its foundation, An Garda Síochána has served this State well. We in this House are not the people who put our lives on the line to keep our communities safe.

Yesterday, we saw yet more bloodshed in a gang feud that is being carried out with unprecedented ruthlessness. This House will have other opportunities to discuss gangland crime in more detail, but I want to make one thing clear: whatever resources are needed and however long it takes, the activities of these gangs and others will be confronted head-on. Of its nature it takes time, but the Garda has defeated gangs and others who believed themselves untouchable before, and they are determined to do so again.

I want to express my full support for An Garda Síochána at every level for the work it is doing to confront these gangs and for meeting the daily concerns of ordinary people in trying to keep them safe. That, of course, does not mean An Garda Síochána should be immune from criticism. The importance of the work the Garda does makes it all the more vital that it be done right. However, I believe it is important that the criticism should have a clear aim: to bring about the improvements that will make An Garda Síochána the world-class policing service that we all want it to be.

The O'Higgins commission report sets out real problems which quite simply have to be addressed. My priorities are clear. We need to do everything we can to ensure victims are not let down again in the way that is detailed in the report and we need to ensure that where wrongdoing by members of An Garda Síochána is reported, it is dealt with properly and the persons alleging wrongdoing are protected. We often talk of drawing a line under bad episodes in the work of An Garda Síochána. I do not buy that for a moment. It is not about drawing lines under anything. Instead, it is about rooting out bad practice and establishing proper, durable and sustainable policies and procedures to prevent a recurrence. Reform must be the watchword of the organisation, and reform can never stop.

Since its publication, much of the debate on the report has been overshadowed by controversy about what may or may not have been said during parts of the proceedings of the commission. I could devote much of this speech to repeating at great length the arguments I made here last week. We entrusted a commission of investigation with the task of looking into all these matters, and that is exactly what the commission did. The Commission was held in private session for a very good reason. In any such examination of the behaviour or misbehaviour of individuals at any level within a State body, it was and always will be vital that witnesses can give testimony and be questioned about it in a safe situation, where they can tell the truth as they believe it, without seeing their evidence in the newspapers the following day. That protection of witnesses is pivotal - it is crucial - to the establishment of commissions of inquiry in the future. I will not remind the House of the debates we had here in respect of tribunals versus commissions and why we had the commission of inquiry legislation.

I believe the right thing to do is to accept fully Mr. Justice O'Higgins's report. It is hard to see how any public interest is served by seeking to re-run its work. I do, of course, understand the concern that has arisen in respect of some of the matters that have been reported, and I believe it is in the public interest to address these matters within the constraints that apply. I said in the House last week that, despite the difficulties, I was sure the Garda Commissioner would try to put further information into the public domain if it proved feasible and legal to do so. This morning she has done so, and I have arranged for each Deputy to receive a copy of that statement for information purposes. I believe she has made a genuine attempt to deal with these matters as fully as possible, given the very real constraints under which she is compelled to operate.

I welcome the fact that there is a meeting of the Policing Authority with the Garda Commissioner tomorrow and, although I do not wish to interfere in any way with the independence of that authority, it is of course open to the authority to address these matters, within the constraints which apply, at a public meeting at some stage in the future. It is only recently that the Oireachtas set up the authority as an independent oversight mechanism for An Garda Síochána, and it should be allowed an opportunity to do its work. I want to emphasise that I continue to have every confidence in the Garda Commissioner. She faces the same challenges faced in the transformation of any large organisation and the particular challenge of doing so while meeting the daily demands, as we see today, placed on an organisation charged with protecting the people and the State from crime.

The statement from the Garda Commissioner speaks for itself, but there are two matters arising from it that I want to mention to the House. The Commissioner has asked me to use the legal powers available to me to ask the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to investigate matters alleged to have occurred in respect of a meeting in Mullingar involving certain officers. I want to tell the House that I intend to do this and I am consulting with the Attorney General about the precise nature of such a referral. I welcome the fact that the Commissioner has requested this action and I recognise, as I am sure other Deputies do, that this issue has led to significant public concern. It is right that we try to establish the truth of the matter.

I also want to address the broader issue of whistleblowing. No one should underestimate the difficult issues confronting any organisation when whistleblowing takes place, which include balancing the rights of those making allegations with the rights of those against whom allegations are made. There is no point in pretending that these difficulties are not of their very nature all the greater in an organisation such as An Garda Síochána.

When a person's job can involve great dangers and she has to confront people who will not hesitate to harm her, she needs to know that those she works with support her in these difficult tasks. That is human reality. However, what can be a great virtue in some circumstances can become a great vice in others. While ranks have to be closed against those who pose dangers to the community, they should never be closed against the truth, however unpalatable that truth is.

The lesson from the O'Higgins report is clear. An Garda Síochána can only benefit from taking seriously allegations of wrongdoing by its members, valuing them and supporting those who bring these matters to light. We never again want to see the situation in which Maurice McCabe found himself, nor do we want to see people having to live for long periods under the shadow of unfounded allegations.

We have changed the law. The former Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, brought in the Protected Disclosures Act to ensure a sea-change in the options open to those who want to report wrongdoing. Now any garda can have complaints independently examined by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, and that is already happening. Of course everyone in the House will recognise that laws of themselves do not change culture. This requires a relentless reinforcement of the values of the organisation led from the top. While I believe there has been clear progress, it is in the interests of An Garda Síochána and in the public interest to get independent verification of that. Therefore, I can tell the House today that I will be using the powers available to me under the legislation establishing the Policing Authority to ask the authority to conduct a detailed examination of the procedures and policies around whistleblowing in An Garda Síochána and to prepare a report on the matter to include any recommendations necessary to ensure those arrangements operate to best practice. We have the law now. We need to look at the culture and the implementation of that law.

Policy is only part of the approach to whistleblowing. Talk of change must be matched by evidence of real cultural change. This is how trust in An Garda Síochána will be maintained and safeguarded.

I will touch on the background to this report. The genesis of this report was a number of serious allegations made and well-publicised relating to Garda investigations. The Taoiseach asked Mr. Seán Guerin to review the action taken in respect of those allegations made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Mr. Guerin reported in May 2014. His review was an initial non-statutory examination of these matters. The principal conclusion of the Guerin report, accepted at the time by the Government, was that a full commission of investigation should be established with all of the statutory powers available to such inquiries in order that everyone would know exactly what had taken place. The Government accepted this recommendation and agreed to establish the O'Higgins commission of investigation. As a result of the decision taken by the Government at the time in this regard we now know from the commission that there were serious failings and shortcomings in how some of these investigations were conducted. That is something that I, as Minister for Justice and Equality, and the Government take seriously.

Mr. Justice O'Higgins presented his report to me on 25 April. I published the report on 11 May following legal advice from the Attorney General and engagement with the Director of Public Prosecutions, GSOC and the Garda Síochána to ensure there was nothing in it which might prejudice any criminal proceedings pending or in progress. The Government and I accept the conclusions of the O'Higgins report and will act on them.

I very much appreciate that the events outlined in the report have been traumatic for many people who have been affected by them. It would be an injustice to those who brought matters to light in the public interest and those who have lived under their shadow for a long time if we did not take on board the lessons from these events. It is worth reminding ourselves of the balanced findings of Mr. Justice O'Higgins. He described Sergeant McCabe as a man of integrity who had performed a genuine public service at considerable personal cost. He is due the gratitude not only of the public but of An Garda Síochána and this House.

The report is clear on serious failings in certain investigations. Again, we have to recognise the public service performed by having brought these to notice. However, it cannot go without comment that the report also found certain allegations of corruption against senior officers not to be true. Indeed, with regard to former Garda Commissioner, Mr. Callinan, the report makes this point: "It must be stated clearly and unambiguously that there is not a scintilla of evidence to support an allegation of any type of corruption against the former commissioner."

In the case of other senior officers, the commission found that what the judge described as hurtful complaints of corruption were unfounded and pointed out that the people involved had to live for many years under the strain of these allegations. It is important to put on the record that the report has shown that my predecessor, the former Minister, Mr. Shatter, and the officials in the Department of Justice and Equality acted properly at all times in handling the issues that came to them. We should recognise the contribution Alan Shatter has made to public life and in particular the many achievements, especially in the legislative sphere, of his time as Minister for Justice and Equality. Far from finding the slightest fault with the approach of Alan to any of these serious matters, the report uses descriptions such as "appropriate" and "entirely reasonable" to characterise his behaviour in all the matters involved.

The report must be considered carefully in its totality. As I have said already, we must all learn the lessons from it. The report identifies cases where victims of crime were failed by An Garda Síochána. That is as unacceptable as it is disheartening and we must take all actions open to us to ensure these shortcomings are not repeated.

I met Mary and George Lynch on Monday. Mary's bravery both on the night of her attack and since then in telling her story is an absolute inspiration to us all. I can say as much from having spoken to her and her husband and having listened to her recount her entire experience to me over this period. Her experience as a victim should be heard by every new and current member of An Garda Síochána. Mary told me she had lost trust in An Garda Síochána.

We must re-establish that trust between victims of crime and the Garda. Victims must be at the heart of the Garda service. In the past, the needs of victims of crime have sometimes been overshadowed by a focus on apprehending and prosecuting perpetrators. I have said repeatedly that we need a sea change across the entire justice system in the approach to victims. We must ensure our response to criminal behaviour is comprehensive while putting the needs of victims at the forefront.

The Taoiseach has outlined a number of reforms that have taken place already and I will refer to some of these briefly. Many are relevant to the findings in the report and the matters it addressed. We have the new independent Policing Authority. It has already held its first public hearing. We have the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. We have the Freedom of Information Act that was extended under the previous Government to include An Garda Síochána. We have had the Garda Inspectorate comprehensive report on crime investigation published in 2014. I do not have time to go into the details of the actions that have been taken already in this regard. Suffice it to say that a series of reforms have been undertaken, including the Central Statistics Office, CSO, carrying out work on the figures released by An Garda Síochána as well as a range of other areas. There is a commitment to increase the numbers in the Garda and the Garda Reserve and investment in CCTV.

It is worth reminding ourselves about the investment the previous Government made in An Garda Síochána, including well in excess of €200 million in ICT, an area that had been shamefully neglected but which has now been brought up to date. This will allow the force to deal with the demands a modern police force faces nationally and internationally. The purchase of 1,300 new Garda vehicles is being facilitated by a major investment of €34 million. A total of 720 new vehicles have come on stream since the start of last year. We have seen the powers of GSOC enhanced. We have seen how the role and remit of the ombudsman commission has been strengthened, including the power to investigate complaints against the Garda Commissioner. This is a significant new departure and should serve to increase confidence in the accountability of the Commissioner and the force as a whole. I believe these initiatives, in particular, the legislative reform, the new authority, the strengthened legislation and the new investment, have helped to increase both the confidence we want to see in An Garda Síochána and accountability as well.

As I said at the beginning of my contribution, there is no doubt that more remains to be done. However, I will return to a point I made earlier. There is no end to reform. This is an ongoing journey of practical and cultural change. I have emphasised throughout my contribution the need for that cultural change.

It is one thing to have policy and law and another to have implementation and the kind of cultural and values change we are speaking about today. As our country and society change, so too must An Garda Síochána continue its journey as an organisation that faces outward, embraces change and protects whistleblowers. I imagine that is what everybody in this House wants to see. In most cases, An Garda Síochána depends on moral persuasion instead of armed force. Moral persuasion depends on public trust and public trust is earned by professionalism, high standards, honesty and openness. That is what we expect, and that is what I expect, from An Garda Síochána.

The first Garda commission envisaged an unarmed force dependent on moral suasion. That requires that every member of the force, every day, wins the trust of members of the public, because trust is the currency of our police service. I, gardaí and the Garda Commissioner accept that there were failings and there must be change. I and the Government will do everything possible to support the ongoing reform of the force and I look forward to working with everyone in this House, particularly the new committee on justice and spokespersons on these matters. Victims must always be at the heart of the Garda service.

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