Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“— offers its sincere condolences to the O’Farrell family following the tragic death of Shane O’Farrell on 2nd August, 2011;

— expresses its genuine and heartfelt concern at the circumstances and events that led to the road traffic incident that cut Shane O’Farrell’s life so tragically short; and

— commits itself to ensuring that those circumstances and events are fully investigated so that the lessons of this tragic loss are learned and applied to prevent other families suffering similar losses in the future;

notes that:

— the Oireachtas established the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) in 2006 with the statutory responsibility to deal with complaints concerning the conduct of members of An Garda Síochána;

— GSOC’s independence and impartiality are its guarantee to members of the public, and indeed to members of the Gardaí who are the subject of complaint, that any and all complaints will be investigated properly and thoroughly, with due regard to the rights of all those involved;

— members of the family of Shane O’Farrell made in excess of 50 complaints to GSOC in relation to the circumstances surrounding his death and subsequent events and that in April 2014, the then Minister for Justice and Equality asked GSOC to investigate certain related matters;

— GSOC investigated all matters admitted for investigation as a single investigation;

— in May 2014, the then Minister for Justice and Equality referred a number of complaints surrounding the road traffic incident and subsequent matters to the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM);

— the IRM was established to provide for independent reviews of certain allegations of Garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations with a view to determining to what extent and in what manner further action may be required in each case;

— the recommendation made by the IRM was that no further ministerial action should be taken in this case, and that the appropriate forum for raising matters related to alleged Garda failings was GSOC, which was already investigating certain matters arising from the tragic death in this case;

— over the course of a lengthy criminal investigation, GSOC considered a total of 56 allegations that it had received in relation to the case;

— in April 2018, GSOC issued its first report on this case to the Minister for Justice and Equality and provided a copy to the family of Shane O’Farrell and that the report was subsequently published by GSOC;

— this first report considered the case from a criminal perspective in accordance with Section 98 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and that each allegation was examined to determine if any conduct by the Gardaí could constitute a criminal offence; and

— GSOC found that there were no grounds for criminal proceedings against any Garda, but that it did identify conduct that may amount to a breach of discipline by members of An Garda Síochána;

further notes that:

— GSOC has made a number of recommendations in its first report and that the Minister for Justice and Equality will be pursuing these with relevant parties;

— GSOC issued a statement with its first report in which it states that it has commenced an investigation under Section 95 of the Garda Síochána Act into 13 of the 56 allegations concerning matters that may constitute breaches of discipline by members of An Garda Síochána; and

— the instigation of another investigatory process while the GSOC investigation is underway would risk undermining GSOC’s disciplinary investigation and any disciplinary proceedings that may be instituted at a later date by the Garda Commissioner;

resolves that the GSOC investigation under Section 95 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 be allowed to take its course independently and with respect for natural justice and fair procedures and that nothing is done in the Dáil that would undermine that investigation; and

acknowledges the commitment of Government, upon completion of the disciplinary process, to consider whether there are matters that require further investigation and if so, to bring before Dáil Éireann, for its urgent consideration, any proposals that it may wish to make in this regard.”

I wish to start by repeating my opening comment here less than two weeks ago when we had statements on the Garda Síochána Ombudsman's report following a referral by my predecessor, Alan Shatter, and complaints on behalf of and on the part of Mrs. O'Farrell. In this regard, all our thoughts very much remain this evening with the O'Farrell family in the wake of the dreadful loss they have suffered arising from the death of a clearly much-loved son and brother. I find it very difficult to imagine the scale of grief they have suffered since the tragic evening back in August 2011.

It is clear there are a number of troubling matters surrounding the circumstances leading up to the road traffic incident in which Shane O'Farrell's life was tragically cut short. These have been clearly identified in the GSOC report. They were, in fact, failures, and I categorically call them what they were - failures. A man who had numerous previous convictions, including for theft, drugs and road traffic offences, and who was out on bail at the time of the accident, had also been arrested for other offences while on bail. We all know there are laws related to the obligations on those who obtain release on bail and there are sanctions for those who breach bail conditions. Unfortunately, in this case, those sanctions were not implemented, and this of course was a very serious failing.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has spent six years investigating the allegations made in respect of this case. Its very thorough first investigation focused on potential criminal offences. I am sure everyone who makes a contribution to and listens to this debate has taken the care to read the report carefully. In its first report, GSOC did not identify any criminal offence by any Garda but identified a number of matters which require further investigation. That investigation has now commenced. I expect a further report in early course when GSOC completes its investigation into disciplinary matters. That report may lead to the Garda Commissioner instituting disciplinary proceedings. I will come back to this matter in a moment but I wish to point out yet again that GSOC is an independent statutory agency with an important role across the State. My officials are working with GSOC to advance a business case for additional staff for consideration by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. I am also looking at ways to strengthen GSOC's powers. In this context, I wish to align any action I take with the forthcoming report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland to ensure a coherent criminal justice architecture is very much in place. I am committed to ensuring that GSOC has the resources it needs to carry out its functions efficiently and effectively. I know that Members of the House had a concern that the GSOC investigation was taking a long time. This is understandable. However, it is important to pause and reflect on the complexity of the investigation undertaken, involving in excess of 50 separate allegations which involved multiple people. We are all aware of the importance of due process and the seriousness of a finding of criminal wrongdoing, so we can understand the care taken by GSOC to ensure it carried out a thorough criminal investigation and could stand over each and every one of its findings.

It is very regrettable that some Members opposite have chosen to criticise GSOC and its report. In fact, it would not be going too far to say that some Members sought to castigate GSOC for its deliberations on this issue.

I remind the leader of Sinn Féin that on 31 May, in the course of statements in this House on the GSOC report, she said that there are statements in the report that, as she put it “are simply erroneous”. She went on to state that the absence of a summation on each complaint was “inexplicable and disgraceful”. In saying that, the Deputy herself was erroneous since the list of all 56 complaints made by the family of Shane O’Farrell are set out in an appendix to the report. She accused GSOC of "playing for time” and “playing games". I find those remarks to be completely unacceptable about a body led by a highly-respected High Court judge, Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring, which is carrying out a very important, and at times, difficult job. If that was not bad enough, her colleague, Deputy Ó Laoghaire, described the report as a farce.

Other Members also jumped on the bandwagon. Deputy Gino Kenny described the report as a “whitewash” while Deputy Mattie McGrath described GSOC as “useless, toothless and fruitless".

See this speech in context