The Garda watchdog says it doesn't have the resources to investigate Gardaí.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission were before the Oireachtas Committee on Public Petitions today to discuss its annual report.
It said it needed to double its current staff numbers to adequately examine all of the complaints and investigations it is tasked with.
The commission currently has about 170 staff and a budget of more than €16 million.
GSOC Chairperson Judge Rory MacCabe said more resources are needed to investigate complaints fairly.
“A minimum of doubling of our current staff complement, including a considerable increase in our complement of our investigative staff, will be required,” he said.
“We're not talking about a Rolls Royce, but a vehicle that can carry all the complement needed to investigate all the complaints we receive from start to finish professionally, fairly, rigorously, and in a timely fashion.”
“Recruiting, training and embedding such a large number of staff will also be a significant challenge for the new organisation,” Judge MacCabe said. “To that extent I welcome the preparedness of An Garda Síochána to facilitate our investigators in their training system.”
Complaints
GSOC said it received 1,800 complaints last year containing over 2,200 separate allegations, with approximately half accepted as valid and investigated further.
The Oireachtas committee heard that while the average length of an investigation is 366 days, many cases remain open for up to 15 years.
Judge MacCabe said increased resources would help GSOC deal with the varying levels of complaints ranging from low level to matters of the “utmost seriousness”.
“In 2022 for example the top three circumstances underpinning complaints were matters risen during arrest, poor customer service, or complaints relating to the conduct of an investigation,” he said.
“The top three allegations rising from complaints in 2022 were neglect of duty (33%), non-fatal offences such as assault (21%) and abuse of authority (20%).”
