The Garda should consider using Taser stun guns in dealing with armed sieges, the Barr tribunal concluded today.
In his report on the fatal shooting of John Carthy by the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) on April 20th 2000, tribunal chairman Mr Justice Robert Barr said the use of such non-lethal weapons could avoid fatalities.
Report of the Barr tribunal
"I recommend that the Garda Siochana should carry out research...with a view to deciding whether the Taser should be adopted as part of the armoury of the ERU and the inclusion of instruction in its use in their training regime," Mr Justice Barr said in his 700-page report.
The new chief inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, Kathleen O'Toole, will now be asked by the Minister for Justice to immediately review Garda procedures for dealing with similar situations.
In an initial reaction to the report today, the Carthy family welcomed its publication but said no one at any level within the Garda, in the six years since John Carthy's death, had accepted responsibility for it.
The Barr tribunal began its hearings in January 2003, almost three years after Mr Carthy (27), a building worker who suffered from manic depression, was shot dead outside his home by two members of the ERU.
He died after he was shot from behind by gardaí as he left a house at Abbeylara following a 25-hour siege.
The tribunal concluded its hearings in December 2004.
Mr Justice Barr also recommends in his report today that the Minister for Justice and Garda Commissioner should review command structures that are put in place during siege situations and that annual training in should be considered for local Superintendents in charge of such events.
He also said the ERU should have access to firearms support dogs and handlers during siege situations. Armed criminals and dangerous people "who may be motivated by mental illness", could be handled with dogs.
"Such dogs could be invaluable in bringing 'moving containment' to a successful conclusion without resort to lethal violence," the report said.
It said the expert evidence received by the tribunal on the use of police dogs establishes "beyond doubt" that the ERU should have the benefit of non-compliant firearms support dogs and handlers for use in contending with armed criminals.
Non-compliant dogs are essentially 'attack' dogs who will bite or bring a person to the ground on command.
Mr Justice Barr recommended that the State pay the costs of the inquiry, estimated at more than €18 million, despite complaints about the level of co-operation from garda witnesses.
The tribunal's investigations centred on the Garda's handling of the siege and the chain of command at the scene.
It questioned the failure to bring psychiatric professionals and a solicitor to the scene at an early stage. It heard evidence from the two members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit (ERU) who fired the shots.
Opposition TDs have criticised the Government over the delay in publishing the report, which the tribunal chairman said today was due to a short illness and printing difficulties.
The Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said: "Obviously this report will require detailed study and it is important that we learn whatever lessons we can from the tragic death of John Carthy."
A full Dáil debate on the report into Mr Carthy's death and the events surrounding it is expected when the House resumes sitting in the autumn.