The Chairman of the Garda Complaints Board has said he does not believe that the wrongdoing by certain gardaí in Donegal is part of a wider problem within the force.
Gordon Holmes said he believed morale within the organisation was suffering as a result of the Morris Tribunal reports, but the force would come through stronger and more accountable.
He also said the board's investigations are frequently met with a wall of silence.
In the introduction to its annual report, Mr Holmes said the board had for years lobbied the Minister for Justice to give it more teeth when investigating complaints against gardaí.
He praised the board's work, but pointed out that there were ‘major legislative defects’ such as a lack of independent investigators, and an inability to compel gardaí to answer questions.
The report showed there was an increase of 5% in the total number of complaints received against gardaí in 2004 compared to the previous year.
The board said that of more than 1,200 complaints received last year, 531 were deemed admissible.
While there were fewer complaints that gardaí had abused their authority, there was a rise of 12% who claimed gardaí had behaved discourteously to members of the public.
Roche 'astonished' over letter
In another development, the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has said he is astonished to learn that the Garda Complaints Board did not receive a letter he wrote which included an allegation of garda brutality.
The letter dealt with a complaint by a teenager who claimed he had been beaten by gardaí. The letter ended up with the garda investigating the complaint, having passed through the hands of the Minister for Justice and the Garda Commissioner.
The investigating garda excluded the letter in the file on the case that was sent to the Garda Complaints Board on the grounds that the evidence was already covered by other witnesses.
Mr Holmes said it was not the function of gardaí to decide what was relevant or not for the board. He noted that new guidelines were being drawn up to prevent a similar omission being made again.
