Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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129. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will initiate a commission of investigation into the case of a person (details supplied). [25390/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The particular case to which the Deputy refers was amongst those considered under the mechanism established for the independent review of certain allegations of Garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations, which were made to me as Minister for Justice and Equality, or the Taoiseach, or other public representatives with a view to determining to what extent and in what manner further action may have been required in each case.

The outcome of the review in this case was communicated to the complainant in a notification letter issued in December 2015. The letter of notification set out the reasons for the recommendation made by the member of the IRM panel who examined the papers. I accepted that recommendation, as I have done in all of the cases referred to the IRM.

The House may not be aware that the complainant in this case has also initiated a civil legal action against the State based on the same matters considered by the IRM. In the circumstances, Deputies will appreciate that I must respect the independence of the Courts in this regard and so I do not intend to make any further comment in order to avoid any possible prejudice to those proceedings.

By way of context, I would remind the House that the IRM Panel provided recommendations to me in all 320 cases submitted to them and has now concluded its work. The issuing of notification letters to complainants, with one exception, concluded in February 2016. The final notification letter issued on 13 July 2016.

I have repeatedly emphasised that the Independent Review Mechanism was not established to act as a Commission of Inquiry or Investigation. Nor was it designed to make findings. Its purpose was to triage the allegations to see whether further action was needed and what that action would be. I have previously assured Deputies that where further investigation has been recommended by the review then that will occur. However, I have also pointed out that in a large proportion of cases, counsel would be likely to recommend that no further action could reasonably be taken. This has proven to be the case.

In circumstances where individuals have genuine but necessarily subjective concerns about how their particular cases were originally handled, it is inevitable that many of those complainants who were informed that no further action was recommended, will be unhappy with that outcome. The crucial point, however, is that every case has been reviewed by independent counsel, who have made an objective recommendation.