Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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4. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the actions he plans to take to ensure accountability and transparency in An Garda Síochána on foot of the Charleton report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42707/18]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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My question asks the Minister what actions he plans to take to ensure accountability and transparency in An Garda Síochána on foot of the Charleton report and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The findings and conclusions of the disclosures tribunal third interim report are stark. The central conclusion that it reached is that a man who rightly saw loyalty to the people whom he served as superior to any loyalty to the organisation of which he was part, a man who at all times had the interests of the public uppermost in his mind, had to endure a campaign of calumny by those who should have protected and supported him. Sergeant Maurice McCabe deserves the gratitude of all of us for bringing serious shortcomings to public attention. He also deserves an apology for what he and his family had to endure for over a decade.

Since the report was published, I have spoken with Sergeant McCabe and apologised on behalf of the State to him and his family for the manner in which he was treated over a number of years. I will arrange to meet the sergeant in the near future to reiterate this apology to him in person. I understand the Garda Commissioner has also been in touch with him and I welcome that.

The report of the tribunal is, in many respects, a damning report that goes to the heart of how An Garda Síochána handles allegations of wrongdoing within the organisation. It is a lengthy report which requires and deserves careful study. Indeed, Mr. Justice Charleton says in his report that it is important to read it in its entirety to appreciate the sense of its overall findings. I urge Members of the House to take that common sense advice on board and to read the report in its entirety, rather than be selective.

My officials and I are currently examining the report to see what actions are required in the light of its contents and conclusions. I expect others will do likewise. We all have a responsibility to respond appropriately to the findings of the tribunal and in that context we will have a debate on the report commencing this afternoon.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I do not know if I will be around for the debate on the report but I asked the Minister what actions he plans to take in respect of accountability and transparency in An Garda Síochána on foot of this report. I am sure the Minister has given the matter some thought, as I and many political activists have. As Mr. Justice Charleton pointed out, the improvement "that is most needed in our police force is adherence to honesty and adherence to the duty to do a full and hard day of work in the service of the people of Ireland." He also noted that a "country with an undisciplined police force is at risk from that police force." It is hard to believe in parts of the report, including the theory of a bizarre error and mistakes between the Garda and Tusla, as if this was a set of coincidences rather than the co-operation of rogues within the public service. As was said, that is "an appalling vista", a term used by Lord Denning in the case of the Birmingham Six when he convicted them.

To do otherwise would have meant that the police, the state and all the arms of the state were guilty, as we subsequently found out, with those men wrongly serving 15 years in jail. I do not think we can accept that there are bizarre coincidences and errors to explain events in this matter and it needs further investigation.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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I do not disagree with anything Deputy Smith said and I look forward to an opportunity for a more comprehensive debate on the report over the coming days. Deputy Smith will be aware the Government appointed a new Garda Commissioner who took up his position at the start of September. I very much welcome the initial response of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to the tribunal report. It gives a positive indication of how seriously he takes the findings contained therein.

I acknowledge the work of the recent report of the independent Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland following its comprehensive analysis of policing in Ireland. Its report makes clear that transparency, governance and accountability in An Garda Síochána are fundamental. The implementation of that report will be the cornerstone of the necessary transformation in An Garda Síochána and the points made by Mr. Justice Charleton will very much inform the Government's approach to that implementation. I will be bringing a full implementation plan on the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland report to Cabinet before the end of the year. I wish to assure Deputy Smith that will take careful account of the conclusions of Mr. Justice Charleton.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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In fairness, most of the focus so far has been on Taylor and Callinan. Far more needs to be done for public accountability as regards the actions of gardaí at all ranks and all levels. My confidence in the new Garda Commissioner Drew Harris was fairly shaky in the beginning given his record in dealing with the historical legacy in Northern Ireland but also given that his first public outing was his response to what happened on North Frederick Street, which was fairly bad. He said that the unfortunate thing about the gardaí wearing the hoods was that they did not also have their helmets on. The Minister's own response was even more pathetic when he said, in a knee-jerk reaction at the time, that we need to start banning people from taking photographs of gardaí. That probably illustrates more than anything else the lack of accountability to the public in terms of how the Garda will deal in the future with the most vulnerable in our society and with those who protest against the system itself. The Garda action in this case in protecting property rights against citizens does not inspire confidence. There is a far greater job to be done on how the Garda is made accountable to the public.

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Smith makes a point in regard to oversight and general accountability. It is fair to say the proposals in the report on the oversight architecture are perhaps the most far-reaching contained in the entire report. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland approached that issue by separating governance, oversight and accountability. Its proposed solution is the setting up of three new bodies, namely, the board of An Garda Síochána, a policing and communities safety oversight commission, and a new complaints body. It is important we continue to streamline oversight within An Garda Síochána. We will have an opportunity to have further debate in this regard, but a very strong recommendation is that the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission would be replaced by a new complaints body that would handle all complaints against An Garda Síochána that raise serious doubt about the standard of policing, the integrity of An Garda Síochána itself, the matter of potential breaches of law, the violation of human rights and corruption. It is important that we work on the implementation of many of the far-reaching recommendations in that report and acknowledge the very stark and direct references by Mr. Justice Charleton in this comprehensive report.