Justice Minister Releases Sixth Morris Tribunal Report

The Report was received by the Minister on 24 April. Save in exceptional circumstances, the legislation establishing the Tribunal states that the Minister must, within 14 days of receiving a report from the Tribunal, arrange to have it laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.

As with previous reports, this report will be debated in the Oireachtas in due course.

The report examines the circumstances surrounding the arrest, detention and treatment in custody of a number of persons arising, directly or indirectly, from the investigation into the death of Mr Richard Barron.

The report makes serious findings against a number of members of An Garda Síochána involved. It finds that a number of persons were unlawfully arrested and detained, and that some were mistreated in custody, mainly through verbal and in some cases physical abuse.

The Tribunal also does not accept the evidence to it of several members of An Garda Síochána, and strongly condemns the instances of mistreatment it has uncovered.

The report also deals with the investigation by the Tribunal into a claim that conversations between solicitors and persons detained in Letterkenny Garda station were secretly recorded by members of An Garda Síochána. The report concludes that this allegation is false.

The report also makes a number of recommendations arising from its findings, mainly centred on how improvements could be made to the law and practice relating to the conduct of interviews with persons in Garda custody, but also touching on other aspects of Garda investigations.

The Minister will now, in consultation with the Garda Commissioner, carefully consider the recommendations and bring forward any necessary proposals for change.

Commenting on the report, the Minister stated: "This latest report of the Morris Tribunal, which deals mainly with the arrest and detention of a number of persons during the investigation into the death of Mr Barron, finds that some persons were treated very badly by individual members of An Garda Síochána.

"The investigation into the death of Mr Barron, as we already substantially knew from previous reports, was found by the Tribunal to be deeply flawed and to have included conduct by individual members of An Garda Síochána which was utterly unprofessional and at times unlawful.

"Arrests were made with no proper basis in law, and persons in custody were ill-treated. This type of behaviour has no place in a disciplined police service.

"The disgraceful behaviour of a small number of Gardaí in Donegal during a period in the 1990s should not be allowed to overshadow the dedication to the State and to public service shown by the vast majority of members down through the years.

"It is important to make it clear at this juncture that very significant reforms have now been put in place, arising from findings of previous reports of the Morris Tribunal, which greatly strengthen the protection of the rights of persons in Garda custody. 

"These include the establishment of the independent Garda Ombudsman Commission, the introduction of new Garda Discipline and Whistleblower Regulations, and new accountability requirements for every member of the Force. 

"It is also the case that interviews of persons in Garda custody are now videotaped, which is a strong safeguard against any repetition of the type of ill-treatment in custody found in this report.  Nevertheless, findings of this nature leave no room whatever for complacency.

"I will therefore carefully examine the recommendations in this latest report, in consultation with the Garda Commissioner, to see what additional steps could or should be taken to further strengthen the regulations and procedures relating to the treatment of persons in Garda custody.

"As with previous reports, there will also be an opportunity for Dáil Éireann to discuss the findings of this report at the appropriate time. 

"I want to thank Mr. Justice Morris and his team for producing this comprehensive and conclusive report."