Alan Kelly: Calls for inquiry into Garda legacy failures
Alan Kelly addresses the Dáil to demand accountability for multiple legacy failures within An Garda Síochána, citing lost evidence, faulty equipment, and a culture of fear. He calls for independent investigation into specific cases and criticises the Department of Justice's handling of protected disclosures.
Main allegations and urgent call for inquiry
Alan Kelly details a series of legacy issues dating from the period of the previous Commissioner: importation of firearms under false instruments, defective ammunition, repair of private guns by Gardaí, drugs and poor storage at Garda HQ, and mismanagement of DNA and fingerprint evidence. He highlights the loss of 17,000 live fingerprints and the resulting collapse of prosecutions as a central failure.
Case examples and individual injustices
Kelly references a recent Irish Independent article by retired superintendent Denis Whelan describing a culture of fear within An Garda Síochána. He recounts a case where a farmer’s property was entered without a warrant over a lent bicycle during Covid, and the tragic case of Evan Fitzgerald where Garda actions placed guns in a car. He also notes ongoing court developments withdrawing suspensions of 11 Garda members and questions why no independent inquiry has been established.
Accountability, governance and protected disclosures
The speech criticises the Department of Justice’s coordination with Gardaí and says ministers failed to act properly on protected disclosures. Kelly raises the issue of faulty holsters supplied to Garda members and stresses the human cost of poor equipment and governance. He urges the government to confront these legacy problems if the State is to move forward and avoid future tragedies.
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I want in the remaining time to deal with legacy issues because you can't move forward unless you deal with legacy issues and there are a huge amount of them, particularly in the period of the previous Commissioner. I would urge this government to read the article in the Irish Independent yesterday by Denis Whelan, former superintendent, in which he talked about a culture of fear in an Garda Síochána. It's one of the best articles, most honest articles I've ever read from a Garda who's just retired, a superintendent in Wexford, somebody that my colleague George Lawler knows very well, brilliant at his job, and he talks about culture of fear. When I talk about legacy issues I could talk about the importation of firearms under false instruments, defective ammunition, repair of privately owned guns by a Garda Síochána, the storage of firearms in Garda HQ which was a mess, the drugs that were found in Garda HQ, the lack of proper governance of DNA samples. I could talk about a whole range of other legacy issues. I could also talk about the fact that the disgraceful way in which a Garda Síochána went after a Garda because he lent a bike during Covid. That's now cost the state up to four hundred thousand and there was no bloody warrant to take the bike. Nobody seems to be acknowledging this. There was no warrant and that farmer has never got retribution for the fact his property was entered without a warrant and that's on the record of the Dáil. I could also talk about the fact that 17,000 live fingerprints have been lost which means prosecutions have been lost across this state and yet a Garda Síochána won't acknowledge that this has happened. I could also talk about the dysfunctional nature of the Department of Justice working with a Garda Síochána and the fact that I as an opposition TD had to ring the Minister for Justice to tell him that the guns that were put in the car that Evan Fitzgerald was in were put in by a Garda Síochána. He didn't know. I had to tell him. So what sort of a functional relationship is it where I have more intelligence than the actual Minister for Justice? And that whole case, that tragic case which should never ever have happened will need to be investigated. I can also talk about the fact that as I stand here three Garda Síochána who were suspended for years are actually having their suspensions, the whole issue withdrawn in court in Limerick as I speak. That's 11 Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice says there won't be an independent inquiry despite Deputy Crowe saying there should be, despite the Taoiseach saying there should be, despite the Taj saying there should be. So who pulls rank? There has to be an inquiry in relation to these 11 Garda Síochána. The Minister says call for independent inquiries for every single court case brought against Garda Síochána can't become the norm. This isn't an individual, this is 11. What happened here was a disgrace and will have to be investigated. And most of all I can also talk about why I have raised in here and in committee on numerous occasions in relation to how Garda Síochána were given faulty holsters and the impact that has had and the impact it has had on the lives of serving Garda Síochána and the tragedies and the tragedy it has caused. And this will haunt this government and will haunt the previous government. It will haunt this Minister and it will haunt Minister McEntee. And what will also haunt them is the manner in which they did not deal appropriately with protected disclosures that were made to them. And I guarantee you it'll come back to haunt these ministers. I guarantee it.
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