Analysis: A Garda Bill is urgently needed, writes Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent.
The second report of the Morris tribunal is even more hard hitting than the first and contains recommendations that, if implemented, will bring about a profound change in the composition and the culture of the Garda Síochána.
The tribunal identified within the force a culture that is too homogeneous, too inward looking, and which therefore facilitates what the Minister himself described as the "hedgehog" reaction - rolling into a ball and hoping the threat will go away.
The tribunal strongly urged a change in the composition of the force that would allow for fresh blood to be brought in from other police forces, from civilian life and from Ireland's ethnic minorities.
It expressed its worry that the Internal Audit section of the force had not been strengthened "by the presence, at least, of a number of officers from other police forces," and recommends that this be rectified.
It also recommends the entry requirements be revised so as to allow people from police forces in other EU countries, and from friendly countries outside it, join the force at ranks below that of superintendent.
"The monolithic origin of personnel within An Garda Síochána may have contributed to the situation of obstruction involving, as is colloquially said, 'a circling of the wagons'," Mr Justice Morris said. An Garda Síochána should "actively seek an intake from a wider ethnic and religious diversity than is currently the case".
The tribunal does not go any further into the issue of the recruitment of gardaí; not does it consider the issue of training.
However, it does urge a new disciplinary offence of refusing to account for one's movements while on duty.
This would lead to sanctions up to and including dismissal. The Minister announced yesterday he was introducing this as an amendment to the Garda Bill.
Such an offence should help to dismantle the attitude, which the tribunal found to be endemic in certain sections of the Donegal division, that allowed gardaí to simply refuse to answer the questions of superior officers.
This clearly has serious implications. Each individual garda has authority by virtue of being a member of the force. If that authority is abused, the garda can hide behind silence in covering it up. This renders senior officers powerless to act against any members of the force who may be tempted to abuse their authority, and can lead to an assumption of impunity among those individual gardaí who do so.
Having to account for their movements will certainly go some way towards undermining any misguided sense of impunity certain members of the force may hold. But, as the tribunal acknowledged, it is not enough.
"The question kept recurring in the tribunal's mind: To whom do you turn [with your concerns]?" it said. "Whatever measures are put in place must ensure that there is, indeed, a body to whom people with legitimate concerns are able to turn."
This was a clear reference to the Garda Bill, currently going through the Dáil, which contains the long-heralded proposal for a Garda Ombudsman Commission.
As yet, the composition of this ombudsman commission is unclear. When it was first announced fears were expressed that its investigators would be drawn entirely from the ranks of serving and retired members of the Garda Síochána. The use of gardaí to investigate complaints by the Garda Complaints Board was identified as a major flaw in the constitution of this body.
Justice Morris's comments about the need to involve people from outside the force in the Garda itself have even greater force in relation to the ombudsman commission.
The Minister has resolutely turned his face against any external supervision of the Garda Síochána in the form of a police authority, and reiterated this yesterday. He also stressed his commitment to the accountability of the Garda through the Dáil.
If there is not to be a Garda Authority, containing representatives from the wider community, at the least there should be provision for an Oireachtas committee to play a supervisory role in ensuring that the Garda Commissioner can be accountable for the actions of members of his force, as has been suggested by Fine Gael. Had such a body been in existence, and had the commissioner been pressed on the allegations emanating from Donegal eight years ago, this tribunal might not have been necessary.