Skip to main content
  1. Complaints
  2. Submit a complaint

Submit a complaint

Please Note: 

Fiosrú is currently dealing with a high number of complaints and unfortunately there may be a delay in the time it takes to decide on the admissibility of your complaint.  We would ask you to please bear with us and we thank you for your patience. We will contact you as soon as we can about your complaint.

Please provide as much information as possible when making your complaint as this will reduce the time it takes our case workers to deal with your case.

If you are directly affected by the behaviour of a member of staff of the Garda Síochána, you can complain to Fiosrú, the Police Ombudsman. You can also make a complaint if you are a witness to such behaviour. In many circumstances you can complain on someone’s behalf, if you have their consent.

To find out whether we will be able to deal with your complaint and, if we can, the different ways in which it may be dealt with, please read the explanatory material here.

Continue below to submit a complaint.

Introduction

There are a number of steps you will need to go through to submit an online complaint to us.

The information we need and why.

To determine the next steps in dealing with your complaint, we need: 

  • Your contact details so we can get in touch about your complaint

  • Details on who you are complaining about (or information to help us identify the Garda/Gardaí)

  • Date(s), time(s) and location(s) of the incident(s).

  • A description of the garda behaviour you are complaining about.

 

Note: Fiosrú needs this information to perform our functions under the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. Further information on data protection and how Fiosrú uses your personal data is available on our website www.fiosru.ie.

Before you start

Find out if Fiosrú is the right organisation to deal with your complaint What we do.

Completing our complaint form should take around 30 minutes. For data protection reasons, it is not possible to save the form mid-way. It must be completed in full.

Once you submit this complaint form, a copy will be emailed to you at the address you provide. We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. For information on how the Fiosrú handles your personal data, please read the Fiosrú's Privacy Statement before completing the complaint form.

Need help?

Call us on 0818 600 800 if you need help filling out the complaint form. Caseworkers are available on the phone every weekday morning. At other times, you can leave a message requesting a call back from a caseworker.

If you have accessibility requirements or practical needs in making your complaint, please contact our Access Officer by email at access.officer@fiosru.ie, or by using the contact details above.

Please complete this form fully. If you cannot complete a field please insert 'Unknown' or 'N/A'. Fields marked with (*) are compulsory.

Complainant's personal details

(This is needed for identification purposes and if you are a child, we may have to tailor our service differently for you depending on your age)

Please note that e-mail is our preferred method of communication for routine correspondence.

Let us keep in contact

We will need to be able to contact you while we are dealing with your complaint. If your contact details change, please let us know by e-mailing complaints@fiosru.ie.

A consent form is provided here.

If you are under 18 Years Of Age

  • If you are under 18 years of age, you can make a complaint yourself or another person can make this complaint for you.
  • If you are between the ages of 16 and 18 years of age, your complaint may be treated as a complaint made by a person of full age and the consent of a parent or guardian will not be required.
  • If you ask another person to make this complaint for you, you will need to provide them with consent to make your complaint.
  • If you are under 16 years of age, consent will be needed from a parent/guardian. Please fill in your parent/guardian’s details below so that we can send them Fiosrú’s consent form to complete, sign and return to us.
  • If you ask another person to make this complaint for you, you will need to provide them with consent to make your complaint.

A consent form is provided here.

The representative must fill in all the information on this form and return it to Fiosrú. If they do not fill in all the information we need, it may delay processing your complaint or will lead to no further action by Fiosrú.

When submitting your online complaint form it is important that you present your complaint in a clear and concise manner. You should detail what has happened and why you feel you have a legitimate complaint. 

What do you want to complain about?

A complaint that was previously considered by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) or where an investigation was previously undertaken by GSOC under the Garda Síochána Act, 2005, may be determined as inadmissible by Fiosrú where the act or omission complained of relates to the same or substantially the same act or omission already considered.

Max 4000 characters

For example, what did they:

  • say?
  • do?
  • not do?

This should be a brief account of the incident. If your complaint relates to more than one Garda member or more than one incident, please give as much information as you can about the behaviour complained of in relation to each incident.

Max 4000 characters

Max 4000 characters

For example: CCTV or other video, documents

For example:

  • CCTV or other video footage
  • documents

Max 4000 characters

Please, do not submit any medical reports or photos of the injury with this form. If required, we will ask you for these.

Do you have any information that could help identify the Garda personnel who you wish to complain about?

For example, their:

  • name
  • shoulder number
  • station
  • car / car registration number

Max 4000 characters

Max 4000 characters

If your complaint is outside the time limit

The legal time limit to make a complaint is up to one year after the incident you want to complain about took place. The Police Ombudsman must have good reason to deal with a complaint made after that time limit. If the incident happened more than a year ago, please provide good reason(s) for the delay in making your complaint:

Max 4000 characters

Submission of complaint

It is a criminal offence under section 226 of the Policing Security and Community Safety Act 2024 to knowingly supply “false or misleading information” to Fiosrú. You may be prosecuted if it appears that you have done this. This could result in a fine and/or a prison sentence.

Use of your information

If your complaint is sent for resolution to An Garda Síochána or investigated by Fiosrú, the Garda Síochána and the Gardaí complained of will be given information from your complaint form. In certain circumstances where a complaint has been deemed inadmissible, Fiosrú may share information with the Garda Commissioner. Subject to applicable data protection law, it is possible that information gathered by Fiosrú may be also be given to third parties such as the Director of Public Prosecutions for use in other criminal or civil proceedings. For a full list of who Fiosrú might share your personal information with, please review our data protection and privacy policies, available from our website below. 


For further information please follow these links to our data protection policy and privacy and cookie policy or email data.protection@fiosru.ie.