Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I do not know how much the Minister of State knows, or even remembers, about what occurred in 1976 and thereafter following the robbery by the IRA of €150,000 from a train at Sallins, County Kildare. It was an audacious robbery at the time that hit all the headlines. What did not really hit the headlines afterwards was the Garda Síochána arrest, torture and beating of confessions out of six men. There was also a sleeping judge in the Special Criminal Court who subsequently died, a retrial thereafter, convictions and the overturning on appeal of those convictions. There has been a failure since to acknowledge the miscarriage of justice and the cruel and inhuman treatment of the men. The Minister of State might know of Nicky Kelly, who went on the run during the first trial and returned when the convictions of two others were overturned. He ended up having to go on hunger strike because all appeals failed, despite the fact that the others had their convictions overturned. Eventually, the only way to free him was to pardon him. These men are elderly at this stage with broken health. It is not just about those who are convicted. There were others who did not receive the full sentence of the court who were broken and tortured.

Nobody can deny the world has moved on from the 1970s. Oversight and transparency is the name of the game, in many ways, and are more respected. There is intolerance of any type of misbehaviour or criminal acts in An Garda Síochána, not only by members of An Garda Síochána but by the public and the political sphere. At the time, however, there seemed to be an acceptance of it. RTÉ broadcast a documentary a number of years ago, "Crimes and Confessions", which outlined the existence of a Garda "heavy gang" that seemed to be a law unto itself and seemed to have the cover of the political masters of the time. That has been followed up recently by a podcast by the Irish Independent newspaper, which further outlined the failures in this instance and the need to address these failures.

It is not just myself asking. Obviously, the men themselves, namely, Brian McNally, Nicky Kelly, John Fitzpatrick, Mick Barrett and Osgur Breatnach, have relentlessly campaigned to get the State to acknowledge the truth of what occurred to them. Last year, Claire McEvoy, acting co-director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, stated:

The human rights violations inflicted upon the Sallins Men by An Garda Síochána and accepted by other parts of the Irish criminal justice system were part of a systemic pattern of human rights violations endemic across many years in Ireland’s history. The Irish State has systematically failed to address their treatment and the systems which enabled this treatment to occur.

This, in a nutshell, is why there needs to be an inquiry into this.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy. This happened before I was born so my memory does not stretch that far back. I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy O'Callaghan. I will respond to the issue raised by Deputy Ó Snodaigh on the Minister's behalf.

Deputy Ó Snodaigh is aware that the issue concerns an investigation conducted almost 50 years ago, which resulted in the courts overturning the convictions of two people in 1980, a presidential pardon for a third person in 1992, and the payment of financial settlements. At the time, this case unquestionably cast a shadow on the trust we place in our criminal justice and policing systems to ensure justice is done. Miscarriages of justice serve absolutely no one. Those wrongly accused suffer greatly, as do victims and families who feel that they did not get justice. It is important to emphasise, however, that this case occurred several decades ago and I can say, without question, that the safeguards which were available at that time to those who were the subject of investigation were very different from those in place today.

As the Deputy is aware, following the Ó Briain and Martin committees, the Criminal Justice Act 1984, which regulates the treatment of persons in custody, the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act 1986, and the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 containing a new appeal procedure based on an alleged miscarriage of justice, were introduced. In this century, the State has continued to enact legislation to develop and update our oversight processes, most significantly through the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, commenced by the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, in April.

Ireland has an exceptionally robust system of independent oversight of policing in place. Moreover, a human rights ethos is at the heart of the Garda code of ethics and in recent years a strong organisational focus has been put on embedding the principle that human rights are the foundation and purpose of policing into the everyday actions of members of An Garda Síochána.

The Deputy will appreciate that the establishment of any public inquiry is something which can only be proceeded with where it is warranted. The primary concern is that the matter at issue must be considered of significant public concern in the sense that the concern to the public is live or there has been a recent significant development and an inquiry would assist in establishing the facts.

Given all the developments that have taken place in the intervening years, including the adjudication by the courts and the granting of a presidential pardon, I am advised that the Minister is not aware of any matter of urgent public interest which would warrant reopening the matter. As the House is aware, the Minister is considering a petition received from a number of civil society organisations calling for a statutory inquiry into the Sallins case. I can offer assurances that the petition is receiving attention and the Minister expects to respond to the petitioners shortly.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister received this correspondence almost two years ago, so it is taking a long time to receive attention. The matter itself should be receiving attention even though it is 50 years on. There is no doubting the innocence of the men; that is not why we are seeking an inquiry. The reason is the fact that the State had a system where there were rogue gardaí and non-rogue gardaí. Did the heavy gang exist at all and was it State policy? Why was it not accepted that there was a judge asleep on the bench? The reason the first case collapsed was that the judge died. Despite the denial, why was there torture of the men in question? Why, despite the fact it was obvious to everybody that the Irish Republican Socialist Party, IRSP, was not involved in the robbery, did the State continue with the convictions? Why, even when the initial convictions were overturned, did the State continue to go after Nicky Kelly and then pardon the men with no apologies to any of them for the trauma they went through, for the brutality and for the fact the State's case was that they inflicted the wounds on themselves, despite it being virtually impossible for them to do so because they were in Garda custody the whole time?

There has been no apology. The State is living in denial. The inquiry being sought is into the treatment of the men and not whether they were guilty. That has already been well established at this stage. As I said, there has not been an apology. It is not just the men themselves seeking an inquiry. Human rights organisations that are well respected not only in Ireland but abroad have demanded that the State look into this matter. It is bad form two years on that the Minister for justice still has not responded or has not met any of the men or their representatives.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Again, on behalf of the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As outlined, the case in question has been the subject of court proceedings, pardons and associated compensation settlements. More generally, the rights of suspects and the policing oversight regime have been completely transformed. I referred to the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024, which provides a new governance and oversight regime for policing. A key part of the Act is the reformed and strengthened independent Office of the Police Ombudsman to investigate allegations of Garda wrongdoing. Another key part is the Policing and Community Safety Authority, which has significant powers of inspection and engagement and can engage with the Garda Commissioner and senior leadership team in public sessions. Our policing and criminal justice system has seen substantial and comprehensive change over the past 50 years.

In order for a public inquiry and all that entails to be warranted, it must serve an urgent public interest. With all of the developments that have taken place, there is no obvious purpose that would be served.

I assure Deputy Ó Snodaigh that the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is examining the petition received from a number of civil society organisations seeking a statutory inquiry into the Sallins case and I am advised that the Minister intends to respond to the petitioners shortly. Deputy Ó Snodaigh alluded to the Minister having information for the past two years. As a matter of fact, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has been in office for approximately five months. Any fair-minded person would say that in those five months he has been very much on the ground. I take on board that he states he intends to respond shortly and I take his word on this. I will relay back to the Minister the points Deputy Ó Snodaigh has raised.