Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, and his staff. As a nominee of both Garda representative associations, I am particularly interested in the Morris tribunal and its recent report. I pay tribute to the dedication of the tribunal and its entire staff in sifting through six and a half years of evidence. The vast majority of gardaí investigated or mentioned in the course of the proceedings were completely exonerated and the main Garda members criticised in the seventh report have either been dismissed or have taken early retirement from the force. Public confidence in the Garda Síochána is crucial to its authority and effectiveness and a recent public satisfaction survey, thankfully but unsurprisingly, puts public confidence at a high level of 81%.

I welcome the establishment of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission but it has been reported in the recent edition of Garda Review, the magazine of the Garda Representative Association, that three quarters of complaints are under Garda investigation despite the reiterated position of gardaí that they want all investigations to be, and to be seen to be, independent. The tribunal report itself concludes that the Garda Síochána Complaints Board had neither the statutory powers nor the resources to deal effectively with events such as those in Donegal. A reform resulting from the events which is particularly welcomed by the Garda Representative Association is the introduction of forensic road traffic collision investigators. Other extensive reforms have now been put in place to ensure the misconduct which occurred in Donegal cannot happen again.

I call on the Minister of State to give the House a commitment that these reforms will be regularly reviewed and that this House will be kept up to date on their implementation. A number of Members of this House, myself included, represent members of the Garda Síochána, including sergeants, inspectors and superintendents, in the parliamentary forum and consider it our right and duty to be kept informed of such measures.

Regarding the conduct of tribunals, I commend Mr. Justice Morris's practice of publishing a detailed and conclusive report after the completion of each module. This practice kept Members of these Houses and the public well informed and promoted relevant investigation and public confidence. The tribunal recommends that the Committee on Procedure and Privileges of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann should review the manner in which Members deal with whistleblowers' allegations to guard against unfounded allegations being endowed with undeserved legitimacy. This touches on the matter of parliamentary privilege, which I have used to raise issues that deserve attention and for which there is no other forum. This privilege is a vital part of democratic society and must be preserved but I would welcome guidelines of the sort suggested by the tribunal.

Those members of the force found to have acted improperly are no longer serving, reforms have been introduced to prevent similar events occurring in the future, and public confidence in the force is still very high. I commend the work of the tribunal and the results achieved and agree that it is time to move forward.

The editorial in volume 36 of the Garda Review, published on 8 October, outlines the situation from the Garda point of view. This relates to the "serious 'appalling allegations' made against members of the service including Assistant Commissioners Kevin Carty and Tony Hickey that Judge Morris emphasised were completely untrue and unwarranted". We must be very careful, as Members, with regard to allegations. As it happens, a stone was lifted in Donegal and brought about issues relating to other members of the force. Serious allegations were made against people of the highest integrity and we regret that situation.

The other point made in the editorial is as follows:

The reality is the vast majority of members of garda rank serving in the Donegal division today were still in secondary school, even national school, when the events took place in the 1990s. Of those that were and are still serving, most had nothing to do with the inquiry but held views on the participants. Many retired feeling disgruntled to how they had been treated by the Carthy investigation and the tribunal. Many were passed over for promotion by a layer of garda management who were later found to be complicit.

The editorial is worth reading and very fair. A cousin of mine served in Dungloe, the late Sergeant Frank McDonagh. He was a man of honour and dignity and served the force with great distinction and without fear or favour. To me, he represented the quality of gardaí, sergeants, inspectors and superintendents who served the public in Donegal. I hope this tribunal report would never reflect on the commitment and dedication of so many of the 14,000 members of the Garda Síochána in Donegal and throughout the country. We are fortunate to have a force of the highest integrity and that is unarmed, brave and courageous. Many have given their lives to defend their fellow citizens. I pay tribute to a cousin regarded so well by everyone who met him during the course of his duties in Dungloe. He would be very upset by allegations made against other members of the force in the region. He reflected the highest integrity of the force and was of the highest standard. I commend the report to the House and thank the Minister for being present.