Following commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act, 2024 on 2 April, Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman has taken on the role of dealing with complaints from the public where they have concerns about how they have been treated by Gardaí, a role which was previously undertaken by the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
Primary Objectives
Police Ombudsman, whose primary objectives are:
- To promote confidence in the processes for resolving and investigating complaints made by members of the public;
- To improve public understanding of Fiosrú’s role;
- To ensure that its functions are performed in a timely, efficient and effective manner, and in accordance with fair procedures.
What We Do
The Police Ombudsman’s Office – to be known as Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, will support the Police Ombudsman’s work and will be comprised of a Chief Executive Officer and staff who are delegated by the Ombudsman to carry out their functions.
Fiosrú will, in addition to receiving complaints from members of the public, continue to investigate the cases which were already underway in GSOC. Fiosrú is fortunate to be in a position to learn from the experience of GSOC’s work over the past 17 years, and the expertise of its dedicated staff. This will underpin the organisation’s work to build and enhance its future capability to deal with the evolving nature and increasing complexity of complaints and other matters of concern being brought to our attention, and to provide more efficient, effective, timely and transparent outcomes for the public. In turn, this work will contribute to improving standards in An Garda Síochána and engendering greater public trust and confidence in policing in Ireland.
Complaints
Fiosrú’s main area of responsibility is to deal with complaints concerning Garda conduct. Previously each year, under the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), around 2,000 formal complaints were opened, containing around 5,000 allegations of Garda misconduct (because there can be several allegations in one complaint).
The ‘Make a complaint’ section includes an explanation of the ways in which complaints can be investigated under the current legislation The Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024.
Independent investigations following referral from the Garda Síochána
Fiosrú also conducts investigations into circumstances where it appears that the conduct of a Garda, or Gardaí, may have resulted in death or serious harm to a person. Such incidents are referred to us by the Garda Síochána so that the public can be confident that there is independence in these investigations.
Public interest investigations
Fiosrú may investigate matters in relation to the conduct of Gardaí, when it is in the public interest, even if a complaint has not been received.
The Police Ombudsman may decide to open such an investigation, or may be requested to do so by the Minister for Justice. The Minister, the Policing Authority or the Garda Commissioner may also refer a matter for Fiosrú to consider whether it should investigate it in the public interest.