The Minister for Justice, Mr Mc Dowell, has reiterated the Government's commitment on the creation of a Garda Inspectorate which will independently investigate complaints against members of the force.
Mr McDowell last night said legislation to provide for the inspectorate, as well as a new performance and accountability framework for the Garda, is well in advance and should be published next year.
The inspectorate will have similar powers to an ombudsman and will also exercise an independent day-to-day oversight of Garda operating standards.
While the findings of a recent survey on the Garda revealed 87 per cent public satisfaction with its performance, the force "must change in concert with the society which it serves", Mr McDowell said.
He was speaking on the same day the Garda Síochána Complaints Board released its annual report for 2001.
The board, which currently investigates complaints against the gardaí, noted in its report that the slow progress in installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in Garda stations was now a matter of "utmost concern".
Mr Fergus O'Callaghan, deputy chief executive of the complaints board, said although some Garda stations were now fitted with equipment which allowed the video recording of interviews, there was no programme relating to the installation of CCTV cameras.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice said talks were currently ongoing between the Department and the Garda authorities on the widespread installation of the cameras in the reception and cell areas of Garda stations.
The spokeswoman was unable to say when a concerted installation process might begin.
In its report the board outlines the benefits of CCTV.
In one detailed case reviewed by the board, cameras were used to clear a number of gardaí of wrongdoing following a complaint from a man who claimed he had been seriously assaulted by members of the force. The complainant claimed he had been beaten by gardaí after he was arrested.
Although he had sustained serious head injuries, an examination of on-street CCTV footage showed that, just before he was arrested, he had been assaulted by a group of young men.
"This beating included being repeatedly kicked in the head with great force as he lay on the ground," the report noted.
"The complainant did not appear to recollect this occurrence," it concluded.
The board also expressed concern at a number of cases involving the treatment of juveniles detained at Garda stations and then released without a parent or guardian being notified.
In one case, a juvenile was arrested and was subjected to a drugs search in which he was told to take off all of his clothes with the exception of his underwear.
A lone garda then carried out the search, which proved negative, and the youngster was released.
Just 6 per cent of complaints processed by the board in 2001 were deemed to be breaches of discipline and referred to either the Garda Commissioner or a tribunal. This compares with 12 per cent in 2000.
Of the 2,191 complaints either carried over from 2000, reopened during the year or received during the year, 822 were dealt with by the board.
That compares with 2,128 complaints in the previous year, of which 589 were processed.
Of the 822 cases processed in 2001, 18 were deemed minor breaches of discipline and referred to the Garda Commissioner, while 10 breaches of discipline were referred to a tribunal and 24 were informally resolved.
In total, 324 cases were withdrawn or did not proceed after having been deemed inadmissible, compared with 194 in 2000.
The report also revealed spending on salaries, wages and allowances for board members increased by more than 25 per cent to £522,497 in 2001.
Last year's increase was more than nine times the £12,000 increase recorded in the three-year period between 1998 and 2000.
Mr O'Callaghan said the increase in expenditure in salaries and expenses arose from the board having been expanded during the year.
"Some of those who joined would have done so at a reasonably high level and that would have accounted for most of the increase," he said.
