Garda misconduct panel rejects 90% of complaints

A REVIEW into alleged cases of garda misconduct launched by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has rejected more than 90% of the complaints.

The Independent Review Panel was established by the minister in the wake of the allegations made by whistleblowers Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former garda John Wilson.

The review, carried out by a team of legal experts, was established to look independently at certain allegations of garda misconduct, or inadequacies in the investigation of certain allegations, which had been made to the minister or the Taoiseach.

Its purpose was to determine to what extent and in what manner further action might be required in each case. A panel consisting of two senior and five junior counsel was established for that purpose.

There were 320 complaints given to the panel. Of those, 306 have been notified to date of their outcome.

However, a source has told the Irish Mail on Sunday that at least 90% of cases have been rejected ‘out of hand’.

The source said: ‘A lot of people are going to be very disappointed. The public were expecting to see gardaí brought before the courts but it’s just not going to happen. I’d be surprised if any gardaí end up before the courts.’

In a statement, the Department of Justice refused to put a number on how many cases were rejected by the panel.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins has called for a more comprehensive independent review to be established. He said: ‘We need to look at all of these cases, to afford due process to the families because the review mechanisms didn’t engage with the families, it was a desk review of paperwork with no face to face meetings.