Garda discipline: The Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, has indicated that there will not be any early attempt to prosecute Supt Kevin Lennon and Det Sgt Noel McMahon, whose activities have been the subject of a damning report by the Morris tribunal.
On what he described as one of the darkest days in the history of the Garda, Mr McDowell said clear and immediate questions were raised about the position in the force of Supt Lennon and Det Garda McMahon.
The Co Donegal-based gardaí, who are currently under suspension, were found to have orchestrated the planting of ammunition and hoax explosives and to have lied to the tribunal.
Describing the events as frightening, unprecedented, egregious and devastating, Mr McDowell said the systemic problems in the Garda were not confined to operations in that county.
The Government will move in the coming months to establish a new audit unit in the Garda which will have the power to conduct random spotchecks in Garda stations, the Minister said.
New protocols for Garda dealings with informants will be developed, in addition to stronger disciplinary procedures.
Stating that the report laid bare the truth of what happened in Donegal, Mr McDowell said it appeared Mr Lennon and Mr McMahon were motivated in their corruption by a desire to progress their own careers.
However, the fact that the Director of Public Prosecutions had sanctioned publication of the full report indicated that criminal proceedings were not likely in the short term.
Mr McDowell said at the publication of the 500-page report that the Government remained committed to the establishment of an independent Garda Ombudsman in a Garda Bill currently proceeding through the Oireachtas.
While the system of Garda promotions will be established on a statutory footing by amendments to the Bill, changes to the Garda command structure were a matter for regulation or the force's internal administration.
Among the additional reform measures that the Government plans in the light of the tribunal report, Mr McDowell said gardaí who dealt with informants would have to register that fact and comply with "appropriate standards" in relation to such activity.
The Minister said the breakdown in Garda discipline was a very serious matter and suggested the present system had led to a "hedgehog culture" in the force. Those called to book "get prickly and say 'I know my rights, I don't co-operate'," he said.
This was encouraged in part by a management culture which was very stern on anyone who admitted any fault. "The way to survive in other words was simply to put your head down and be unco-operative and there's two sides to that story," he said. However, there was a necessity for gardaí to account immediately and without equivocation for the manner in which they carried out their activities.
"I do believe that we have to recalibrate the whole process of discipline and we have to address the issues which are taken head-on by the report: that we can't have an adversarial system of discipline in An Garda Síochána where anybody who is called to book immediately starts talking about their rights; that we have to have a system of accountability in which people are truthful to their superiors."
He went on: "That cuts both ways. It also means that members of the force who are truthful and who do account should not be subject to a system of bullying and that there should be high standards of management and human relations in An Garda Síochána."
The Minister said he will stand by the Garda and he called on the public to maintain confidence in the force.
"Today should not be an occasion to withdraw trust and confidence," he said. The overwhelming majority of gardaí were "good people trying to do a good job".
However, the Minister added: "I agree completely with the tribunal when it says that the background circumstances in terms of accountability, control and authority, that those mechanisms are not unique to Co Donegal."
Mr McDowell said it was not his intention to minimise the gravity of the issues that were raised "or minimise the consequences that they have for the reputation of the force in the public eye".
He said he had absolute confidence in the Garda Commissioner, Mr Noel Conroy, to implement the changes in the force that were required.
Besides saying that the former commissioner, Mr Pat Byrne, was deeply committed, amicable and loyal, Mr McDowell had nothing to say about Mr Byrne's performance.
"I said I wasn't going to engage in comparatives because I don't think that will be helpful at this stage and I don't want to get involved in any adverse comparison," Mr McDowell said.
The Minister said he wrote yesterday to Supt Lennon to tell him that the Government will examine his case in early September. Mr Conroy will deal with Det McMahon as a matter of urgency, he said. Mr McDowell also said the force itself would deal with the cases of 17 other named gardaí, who were criticised for actions found to be of a lesser order than corruption. Such individuals were variously found to have been in gross dereliction of duty or to have failed to co-operate with the tribunal or failed to tell it the truth.
"The position of other members found culpable will, in varying degrees, also have to be addressed and I don't intend today to say anything which prejudices the fair treatment of those individuals," he said. However, he added that people whose behaviour fell below acceptable standards should be disciplined.
While accepting that the tribunal's findings were "extremely serious", he said the question of whether criminal prosecutions were possible was "secondary in people's minds".
Mr McDowell said the Attorney General and DPP had advised him it was appropriate to publish the report.
Referring to the DPP, he said: "The fact that he is saying that it is alright as far as he's concerned to publish this report in its entirety would tend to suggest to me that he doesn't anticipate any early prosecutions on foot of the same material," he said.
"I think most people's first priority is to ensure that the reputation and standing of An Garda Síochána is fully vindicated and re-established and that its professionalism is vindicated."
Mr McDowell acknowledged that the activities outlined in the report let down the reputation of the force.
However, he insisted that there was no reason for the public not to trust the force. "I intend to stand by the force, not in any sense to dump on the force but to bring it through because it is a force which has the respect of the Irish people, an essential part of the fabric of our State and it has to come through this stronger and better," he said. "You can have two reactions. You can throw up your hands in anger and despair and say that these are shameful findings. And you say a plague on all your houses and simply walk away from An Garda Síochána psychologically.
"Or you can do what I as Minister for Justice have to do, and that is to learn from this report and ensure that the great, great commitment of the great majority of members of An Garda Síochána is rewarded, if you like, by the proper reforms and proper changes that are exposed as being vitally necessary by this report."
The findings of the report were clear and stark, Mr McDowell said. The language in the report was uncompromising "and very full of, I think, appropriate clarity and directness in tone".
