Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

This issue goes to the heart of the Morris tribunal report. I raised this matter in the House during the passage of this Bill, prior to the revelations in the second Morris tribunal report. The ordinary garda must have the opportunity to contact someone if he or she sees a superior doing something wrong. A garda should be able to contact the ombudsman at this stage. The Minister is referring to a different system, the whistleblower's charter. This may be the correct vehicle to deal with this but a garda should be able to go to the ombudsman.

Consider the case of corruption in Donegal. I am sure there are many decent, hard-working gardaí in Donegal. If an ombudsman or an independent body had been in place at the time they could have revealed what was happening. However, this could not happen as superiors were involved in this debacle. I welcome anything that will allow ordinary gardaí to air grievances about superiors but I cannot see why a garda cannot contact the ombudsman. Everyone else has the opportunity to do so. I think this is a step in the right direction and I will welcome the report from Senator Maurice Hayes's group when it appears. It will be an important part of the system and of this Bill. I look forward to the proposals when they become available.

The Minister has moved on the whistleblower's charter although it seems very convoluted. The simpler the process of a garda making a complaint against a superior, the better. Without this process we could have many other situations similar to what occurred in Donegal.