The announcement by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, of an independent inspectorate to deal with complaints against the Garda is welcome insofar as it goes. But, as with the existing Garda S∅ochβna Complaints Board, it will stand or fall on the willingness of the Government to give it the necessary resources to do its job. Successive administrations have failed to provide the board with sufficient personnel or funding with the result that it has never secured the the confidence of the general public.
Mr O'Donoghue's proposed independent inspectorate will be different from the existing complaints body, he says, in that it will not use members of the Garda as its investigators. At present, gardai effectively investigate each other, albeit under the dir ection of the Chief Executive of the Complaints Board, rather than the Garda authorities proper. This, together with the long backlog in the processing of complaints, has rendered the Board all but irrelevant in the struggle to maintain confidence between the public and the national police force.
By any international comparison, the Garda S∅ochβna has a high standing in the community it serves. Yesterday's presentation of Scott Medals confirms the continuing high levels of public service and dedication which are still the essence of the Garda S∅ochβna. But for some time it has been drawing on its capital - on the goodwill and respect built up over many decades. In an era of higher expectations, the Garda has fallen short of public requirements in regard to accountability. Meanwhile, within the force itself, there are growing sentiments of disillusionment. There is a sense of failure as public disorder becomes more widespread, as the drug culture becomes more deeply embedded and as members find themselves in the front line against anti-social behaviour of all kinds.
The political establishment needs to take a broader look at the Garda S∅ochβna's role and place in society. When the new Police Service of Northern Ireland is fully functioning, it will have a whole range of linkages to the community through district policing boards. There is no equivalent here and there are huge variations in the extent to which local Garda management feels itself obliged to respond to local interests and priorities. The Garda S∅ochβna's core administrative axis remains similar to that of the Royal Irish Constabulary, with a chief officer answerable directly to a Minister and a vertical command structure flowing outward and downward from the Depot.
Ironically, one of the results is an unevenness in Garda effectiveness across the community. Some districts function very satisfactorily from the viewpoint both of the citizenry and the gardai themselves. Others suffer from chronic morale problems and a worrying degree of disharmony between police and public. Mr O'Donoghue's new inspectorate may be a first step in the right direction. But what is really needed is a root and branch review of Ireland's policing needs. Without it, the gap between public ex pectations and the Garda S∅ochβna's performance will grow wider.