Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

I share the concerns of other speakers on the proposal for a three man ombudsman commission but I am not going to rehash what has been said already. Senator Tuffy caused me to consider what would happen if there was a vote among the three people. Does it mean that if two of the three disagree agree with the chairperson that would be, in effect, a vote of no confidence? Would the chairperson have to resign? This is just one potential complication in this Bill.

The Minister is bringing forward this Bill in haste as a result of the Morris report. I ask the Minister for clarification of the mechanisms he is proposing to build into the Bill with regard to the ombudsman commission and the Garda inspectorate. Will they have retrospective powers? Can they look back on past wrongs that have been committed? We all want to restore confidence in the Garda Síochána. I refer as an example to what is know as the Shergar affair and the sworn inquiry that followed it. A member of the Garda Síochána, garda 17714H, was dismissed, in my view unfairly. Substantial information about that was given to the Minister in January 2004, some 17 months ago. It was given to him by one of his colleagues at my request and I am disappointed that nothing has happened since. Will what he is setting up now deal with situations like that? There was a sworn inquiry, in which a bogus witness was used and perjured evidence given. It is a serious issue. We need to deal with problems like this if we are to restore confidence in the Garda Síochána. Adequate Garda evidence, in a chief superintendent's report, has been sitting there for some time. This man has lost his job and all respect. This matter needs to be addressed. The mechanism proposed by the Minister cannot deal with such cases. Another worrying trend is that at least one senior garda was involved in this affair, the Kerry babies case, the Abbeylara shooting and the Donegal scandal. These are serious issues and I would like to know whether the Minister's proposed mechanism will address similar issues. The garda involved in this case has suffered since 1992 when he was suspended. The request to which I refer has been with the Minister since January 2004 but nothing has happened. Will the Minister do something now?