The Government is to give major new powers to the Garda Commissioner to sack gardaí summarily under last-minute changes to plans to reform the force.
The significant new powers, described as "revolutionary" by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, are likely to provoke fury among the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.
Once the powers are implemented, the commissioner will be able to bypass long-running disciplinary appeals rules and sack gardaí if their presence in the force "undermines public confidence". Five gardaí sharply criticised by the Morris tribunal have been transferred to the Garda headquarters in Dublin from Donegal, but they have yet to face disciplinary proceedings.
The amendments to the Garda Síochána Bill were cleared by Cabinet yesterday and will be published today before the report stage of the legislation is heard today and tomorrow.
Responding to the latest series of amendments, Fine Gael TD Jim O'Keeffe said the Oireachtas should suspend debate on the legislation.
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, has now fundamentally altered the thrust of the legislation, following the publication of the Morris tribunal report, though he has not heeded tribunal chairman Justice Frederick Morris's call on the Oireachtas to review the bill.
Under the changes, the commissioner will be able to sack gardaí up to inspector rank if "his or her continued membership would undermine public confidence in the Garda and the dismissal of the member is necessary to maintain that confidence".
Once informed of the commissioner's decision, the member would be able to "advance reasons" why he or she should not be sacked. The sacking can go ahead if the commissioner remains of the opinion that dismissal is necessary and the Government "consents to the member's dismissal".
The Minister for Justice is to draft rules to govern "a whistleblowers charter" in the Garda, protecting officers who report "allegations of corruption and malpractice".
Following a warning from the Attorney General's office, the Government is also to legislate for the use of closed circuit television systems. The Department of Justice insisted last night that there was no doubt about the legality of existing systems.
The Cabinet has also laid down stiffer reporting rules for the commissioner, to ensure that Justice is not left in the dark as during the McBrearty investigation. Currently, the commissioner must report on significant developments affecting the preservation of peace and public order, the protection of life and property, and the preservation of the security of the State.
He will now have to report on "significant developments that might reasonably be expected to affect adversely public confidence in the Garda Síochána and matters relevant to the discharge of his or her obligations to the House of the Oireachtas".
The commissioner will be required to account fully to the secretary general of the Department of Justice, including "the duty to provide, on request of the secretary general, any document in the power or control of the Garda Síochána, including material in the form of Garda records, statements made by members of the Garda Síochána and by other persons and reports".
The commissioner will "also provide the Attorney General with all of the material ... required by the Attorney General in connection with the conduct of legal proceedings on behalf of the State", according to amendments seen by The Irish Times last night.
He will also have powers to set up a professional standards unit to examine and review operational, administrative and management performance at all levels in the force.
