Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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413. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality when the Independent Review Mechanism will complete its work; her views on establishing a commission of investigation into serious cases, which raise fundamental questions regarding the malpractice of certain members of An Garda Síochána; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18563/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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There are currently 319 complaints being considered by the mechanism established by the Government for the independent review of certain allegations of Garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations, which have been made to me as Minister for Justice and Equality, or the Taoiseach. A panel consisting of two Senior and five Junior Counsel was established for the purpose, all selected on the basis of their experience of the criminal justice system.

The volume and complexity of cases has led to the review taking longer than originally anticipated, but it is important that counsel take the time necessary to consider each case fully and carefully. It is therefore considered inappropriate to place a time constraint upon the working of the Panel. Nevertheless counsel are making every effort to conclude their work as soon as is reasonably practicable. Although counsel have not finished their work, my Department has received a number of recommendations and I therefore intend to start the process shortly of notifying the persons concerned of the outcome of the review in their cases.

Counsel have been asked to make a recommendation to me on what action, if any, might be appropriate in each case. The Panel is independent and therefore no restriction can be placed on the nature of recommendations which they might make. In this regard, and without in any way pre-judging the outcome in any individual case, I think it is important to be realistic and to acknowledge that it may well be that no further action is recommended in a significant number of cases. This may particularly be so where the persons involved have already exhausted the options open to them, such as where their cases have been investigated by GSOC or heard by a court.

Nevertheless, it is open to the members of the Panel to make recommendations as they see fit in relation to each case. Each recommendation will be very carefully considered, but as a matter of general principle let me say quite clearly that, in coming to a decision in each case, I will be very strongly guided by the independent advice of counsel. Quite clearly having engaged counsel for this review, it would be entirely appropriate to be guided by their advice. In the event that recommendations arise in regard to a Commission of Investigation, consideration will be given to whether this could be achieved by way of amending the terms of reference of an existing commission or the establishment of a separate commission.