Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission Chairperson Justice Mary Ellen Ring has said it is time to strengthen the workings of the Garda complaint mechanism to improve how investigations are run.
Justice Ring said that some recommendations made by GSOC for disciplinary action to be taken against some members of the force have been ignored.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O'Rourke, Justice Ring said delays in getting information from gardaÍ was an ongoing difficulty and that GSOC lacked any further enabling powers to allow it to impose a penalty if such information was not forthcoming.
Justice Ring said while GSOC has made advances in getting information from gardaí, there are still delays.
She said discipline was central to the legislation governing GSOC but not the resolution of complaints.
Justice Ring said she would like to see more resolutions made in an informal "customer based" way, such as making a phone call to apologise.
She said it has taken as long as two years in some cases to get documentation and in many cases GSOC must write "again and again" seeking the same information.
Setting up a unit to deal with whistle-blowers would allow GSOC to develop a specialised service to deal with complicated matters that can arise, she said.
