Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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80. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if she will respond to points raised by persons (details supplied) regarding the statutory inquiry which she has proposed into a case and accede to their points on the need to change the proposed terms of reference. [38907/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Inquiry to which the Deputy refers is to be established following my acceptance of a recommendation by the panel of the Independent Review Mechanism. The role of the Independent Review Mechanism was to review complaints of Garda misconduct.

Officials in my Department have consulted with the Office of the Attorney General with regard to matters concerning the establishment of these inquiries, their terms of reference and who will be appointed to conduct them. At this stage, draft terms of reference have been prepared. In accordance with section 42 (3A) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended, there is a requirement to consult with the Policing Authority with regard to these draft terms of reference. This consultation process has been commenced. When the consultation process with the Policing Authority has been completed, I will be in a position to proceed to the establishment of these inquiries.

In order to keep the persons whose complaints have led to the decision to establish the section 42 inquiries updated on the matter, my Department wrote to each of the complainants recently informing them of the proposed scope for the inquiry relating to their particular complaint. I have only recently received the correspondence from the two individuals referred to by the Deputy and will revert to them in the near future.