Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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66. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality why she chose to initiate a statutory inquiry into the death of a person (details supplied) under section 42 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 rather than under the Commission of Investigation Act 2004. [17108/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The matter to which the Deputy refers has been the subject of a review carried out by counsel from the panel of the Independent Review Mechanism set up by the Government to consider complaints of Garda misconduct received by the Taoiseach and myself. The role of the Mechanism was to advise me as to what further action, if any it was appropriate for me to take in respect of each complaint. A panel of independent barristers carried out the review of each case.

Counsel were free to make any recommendation which they saw fit. In many cases counsel recommended no further action by me as Minister. In a number of cases they recommended that I request the Garda Síochana Ombudsman Commission to investigate some aspect of the complaints and, having considered those cases and the issues identified by counsel, I did request GSOC, in accordance with section 102 (5) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, to carry out investigations. In other cases it was recommended that I seek a report from the Garda Commissioner and, again, having considered the issues, I sought such a report.

Finally, there were a small number of cases where counsel recommended that an inquiry be carried out into the matters raised in those cases. In no case did counsel recommend that a Commission of Investigation be established. In the case referred to in the Deputy's question, counsel recommended a non-statutory inquiry. I accepted this recommendation and informed the complainants accordingly. Subsequently, in consultation with the Attorney General on this and the other cases where an inquiry was recommended, I decided that a statutory inquiry under section 42 of the Garda Síochana Act would be a more effective instrument for such an inquiry. This fact was communicated to the family on 14 June.

The advantage of a statutory inquiry under section 42 is that it provides a legislative framework in terms of the powers available to the person appointed to carry out the inquiry. These include the power to inquire into any aspect of the administration, operation, practice, procedure or conduct of the Garda Síochána. Given the nature of the complaints made by the family of the person referred to by the Deputy as to the Garda investigation of this person's death these powers are particularly appropriate. Other powers granted to the inquiry include the power to compel any person in possession of information relevant to the inquiry to provide it; and the power to require the attendance of any person before the inquiry. These powers are supported by statutory recourse to the High Court in certain circumstances.

I am currently consulting with the Attorney General about the terms of reference for the inquiry and I will be in further contact with the family about the matter.