Missed 999 calls probe is key test of promises on gender violence
TODAY, this newspaper publishes fresh details of a scandal already well-aired in the public domain, the failure by An Garda Síochána to respond to just over 2,000 emergency 999 calls reporting domestic violence.
The harrowing nature of the details, however, confirms that a full and thorough investigation of all missed 999 calls is now an imperative for Justice Minister Helen McEntee, who has made policing of gender violence a key target of her time in office.
In recent months, gender violence and attacks against women have rightly been at the heart of national outrage as we try to shape a better postpandemic world.
It is clear from what we already know – and what has emerged from the interim Penman report for the Policing Authority, and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris’s apology – there is a significant issue here in relation to a potential failure of policing what are very serious crimes. Today’s revelations reveal further a serious failure of basic duty and, indeed, basic humanity.
Some of the reforms that have been implemented in the policing area, such as the establishment of the Policing Authority, have allowed for a new confidence that the issue will be tackled with vigour.
However, the idea that this particular scandal has rumbled on, and continues to rumble on, without a clear understanding of when we will have a proper resolution of the issues it raises, is unfathomable and unacceptable.
The revelation that the person tasked with investigating the scandal, former assistant chief constable of Police Scotland Derek Penman, effectively had his hands tied behind his back because he was not allowed to listen to the tapes for data protection reasons is bizarre.
There may be solid operational reasons for this, but it is time for the Justice Minister and the Garda Commissioner to figure out what the problem is.
If it is necessary to make Mr Penman, or another independent investigator, a member of the force for a week to resolve any legal problems, then surely such radical thinking is required in the face of political commitments that gender violence is now to be tackled robustly.
Victims must be at the centre of the investigation in a practical rather than abstract way.
Otherwise the promises of recent weeks will ring hollow.
WATT A HUGE PENSION POT
LOST in the coverage of his massive pay rise and subsequent large salary is the impact both will have on the pension pot accrued by Robert Watt.
The secretary general of the Department of Health earns €294,920 a year, which will rise to over €300,000 in October.
This is an eye-watering sum to anyone struggling to pay their bills or put food on the table in a time of rampant inflation.
Mr Watt is perfectly entitled to avail of the pension entitlements that go with his position, although whether such goldplated entitlements – bankrolled by the taxpayer – should be attached to the position is something we might quibble with.
One expert has calculated that if his pension pot were to be funded by private means, it could cost up to €8m. This is a stark figure that would make many taxpayers baulk – as it should the ministers who approved this appointment at such a controversial wage level.