Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)
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Question 97: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the substantial sums of money being paid to members of the public in respect of court awards or out of court settlements for claims taken against members of the Gardaí in respect of assault, unlawful arrest, or other breaches of a citizens right which amounted to over €16 million in awards and legal fees since 2002. [27381/07]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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At the outset I should say that members of the Garda Síochána are called upon to interact with members of the public on a twenty four hour basis in a wide variety of situations — some of which are inevitably contentious. In the vast majority of cases these interactions are handled in an exemplary and professional manner and do not give rise to difficulty from a litigation point of view. However there are a small minority of cases, by reference to the totality of interactions, which ultimately give rise to a legal liability on the part of the State. In these cases the advices of Counsel, the Chief State Solicitor and the Attorney General inform the approach taken in addressing the issues involved while protecting the public purse.

As the Deputy will be aware, the events in Donegal which gave rise to the establishment of the Morris Tribunal also gave rise to the drafting and enactment of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Indeed civil proceedings arising from those unprecedented events have had the effect of inflating the amount of monies paid out in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. One of the principle aims of the Act of 2005 was the establishment of a framework within which shortcomings in the regime of governance and accountability within the Garda Síochána could be addressed.

For example the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission is empowered subject to certain conditions independently to investigate any practice, policy or procedure of the Garda Síochána with a view to reducing the incidence of complaints. Furthermore the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, which has an expertise in international policing, may at the request of or with the consent of the Minister carry out inquiries or inspections in relation to particular aspects of the operation or administration of the Garda Síochána. Clearly, these new and innovative mechanisms can play a role in ensuring best practice and consequent minimisation of exposure of the public finances.

Finally of course the new Garda Síochána (Discipline) Regulations which came into operation on 1 June 2007 have streamlined the disciplinary process and replaced the complex system which had developed over the years — responding to a specific and important lacuna identified by the Morris Tribunal.