Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy has rejected criticisms of the force by the Garda Complaints Board, including claims that the force has an "inability to apologise" when it makes mistakes.
In a lengthy statement responding to the Garda Complaints Board's final annual report published yesterday, Mr Conroy said that he and his management team, along with all members of An Garda Síochána, were committed to improving the standards adopted by the organisation.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy
"There is nobody with a greater vested interest in dealing with wrongdoers in An Garda Síochána than the Garda Síochána itself," Mr Conroy said.
A total of 1,350 complaints were made against members of the force last year, a 15 per cent increase on the previous year. The complaints concerned alleged abuse of authority, discourtesy or neglect of duty by gardaí.
Of those, 814 of the complaints were deemed admissible, and 234 were withdrawn. The Garda Complaints Board report noted that a number of people were using the complaints system in a "reprehensible" manner in an attempt to get gardaí to drop charges against them.
Board chairman Gordon Holmes criticised the fact that more than half of the 63 cases of minor breaches of discipline were referred back to the Commissioner that he took no further action.
The commissioner said today that although the level of complaints made against members was a "cause of concern", he wished to put the statistics in context.
"In 2006, members of An Garda Síochána had in excess of one million interactions with members of the public, with less than 0.1 per cent resulting in admissible complaints. This compares to approximately 700,000 interactions in 2005, which resulted in approximately the same percentage," Mr Conroy said.
Mr Conroy said the "various observations expressed in the report will be given due consideration when policy is being formulated in the affected areas".
He said the Garda had maintained "excellent relationships" with the board and that he has a close professional working relationship with Mr Holmes.
He thanked board for the positive remarks in the report, which noted the excellent work undertaken by members of the force "in difficult times".
But the commissioner said that contrary to the board's report, he does not have a right of veto over any decision of the board nor has he "any legal basis for overruling or overturning such decisions".
He said that in the cases referred to him by the board, an investigation would be undertaken and the Garda member involved would have an opportunity to make submissions.
Garda Commissioner Noel Conroy
"Of the 63 cases referred to the commissioner under this section in 2006, the commissioner took disciplinary action against the member in 35 cases, eight remained ongoing at year's end. In the remaining 20 cases, the commissioner's decision following full review . . . was that no disciplinary breach was disclosed and no disciplinary action was warranted or could be supported."
Mr Conroy said: "The chairman also notes in his introduction that the Gardaí have an inability to apologise for mistakes. This is rejected by An Garda Síochána. In many instances, individuals or the organisation, have apologised for wrong-doings.
"However, in each case, the Garda Síochána, as with all other agencies, are guided by their legal advisers. Where actions by members of An Garda Síochána are genuinely bona fide mistakes the gardaí have no problem in apologising, provided such an apology does not in any way affect any future legal proceedings."
Mr Conroy also said that members of the Garda had a "legal entitlement" to refuse to take part in informal resolution procedures where complaints were made against them.
Mr Holmes said yesterday that although such informal procedures worked well in other jurisdictions, they had "limited success" here because gardaí often refused to take part in them on the advice of their representative bodies.
The Garda Complaints Board published its final report yesterday but will finish dealing with the cases before it. From May 9 ththis year, the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission became the body that handles complaints against Garda members.