The Morris tribunal has made a number of recommendations to the Government about the operation of the Garda in the light of its investigations into allegations against members of the force in the Donegal area.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has received three new reports from the tribunal but they have not been published yet as they might prejudice criminal proceedings.
The Minister has brought the comments, conclusions and recommendations made in the reports to the attention of the Government and he announced yesterday that he would be making specific proposals on them in the coming weeks.
"While sharing its acknowledgment of the proud record of the Garda, the Government cannot ignore the trenchant views now expressed by the Morris tribunal which suggest that there is substantial evidence that internal discipline has been severely undermined within the organisation as a whole, due to a variety of factors and events," said Mr McDowell.
He said the Government had already taken a number of steps to enhance accountability arrangements within the Garda. These included measures to address the need for more effective governance of the force, including the new complaints and inspection structures, new disciplinary procedures and internal promotion systems.
Mr McDowell said at his press conference that one of the issues currently being addressed was the question of promotions within the force. New draft regulations to be published in the next six weeks would specify that the majority of members on each promotion board would not be gardaí.
He also stressed the problems created by the current code of discipline for gardaí, saying it was more appropriate to a murder case than to the normal disciplinary code that operated in the public and private sectors.
He added that small issues of discipline had the overlay of procedures appropriate to a criminal trial and the tribunal had said this was encouraging indiscipline in the organisation.
In a clear reference to the ongoing row over the Garda reserve, the Minister also pointed to the fact that the tribunal had warned about the danger of organised insubordination.
He described his meeting yesterday with representatives of the Garda Representative Association as very useful and said that all the views on the reserve had been thoroughly aired. "I handed them the regulations I will be bringing to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice on the operation of the reserve," he said.
