Gardaí have begun initial inquiries into allegations that officers stole or confiscated money from homeless youths in Dublin city centre.
Yesterday, a respected worker with homeless youth said there was a continuing problem of young people being stopped and searched by gardaí, who take but do not return money and property belonging to the young people.
Father Tony O'Riordan of the Arrupe Society said that because the young people were not arrested, no official receipt was issued for the property, making it almost impossible to track it down afterwards.
The society was founded in Dublin by Father Peter McVerry and specialises in providing support to homeless teenagers.
Yesterday, a Garda spokeswoman said that following a Sunday Tribune report, gardaí had spoken with both Father O'Riordan and the journalist who wrote the report. However, she said that there was no official criminal investigation as officers had yet to receive specific allegations.
However, Father O'Riordan, who has worked with homeless people for the past eight years, said yesterday there was "a veracity and consistency" to complaints he received from young people about the behaviour of gardaí.
"There's a pattern of behaviour there, and it's one we highlighted before," he said. He had personally intervened in a number of cases to ensure that property was returned. Father O'Riordan was also aware that one homeless youth had made an official complaint in the past.
He said many of the young people who had possessions taken were either too afraid of retaliation, or had no confidence in the Garda complaints procedure. "A new independent system" could restore confidence in the complaints procedure, he said.