The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has called on the Garda Siochana Complaints Board to resign en bloc following publication of its annual report for 1999.
"There is little point in this body publishing an annual catalogue of complaints which have not been adequately addressed with a predictable whinge about lack of power and resources," Mr Donncha O'Connell said yesterday.
"It is clear beyond doubt that the current Minister for Justice does not care about the board's repeatedly expressed concerns and is quite happy to maintain a sham system of police accountability." The board is an independent statutory body established by the Garda Siochana (Complaints) Act, 1986, to deal with complaints against members of the Garda.
Mr O'Connell said there was a precedent for such resignation and cited the resignations from the Legal Aid Board in 1989 in protest at the lack of resources provided by a former minister, Mr Ray Burke.
Mr O'Connell criticised the Minister for Justice for what he claimed was "his stubborn refusal" to countenance a proper system of civilian complaint. "Public confidence in the Garda Siochana had been eroded by the cumulative impact of such cases as the shooting of John Carthy at Abbeylara and the many unanswered questions in the Dean Lyons and McBrearty cases," he said.
The Republic's system of police accountability has been criticised repeatedly by international bodies such as the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and the UN Human Rights Committee, he said.
The 1999 annual report was laid before the Dail on Thursday, six months after it was submitted to the Minister.
In response to the ICCL criticism, a spokesman for the board said: "As stated in chapter one of its annual report, the board considers that there is a lack of public confidence in the complaints system and this has the potential to adversely impact on the level of public confidence in the Garda Siochana."
He said the board believed the changes it had recommended to the Minister would give it "significantly greater independence and control and would enable it to deal with complaints in an effective, efficient and timely manner".
A Department spokesman said the Minister accepted that reform was needed and was carrying out a review.