A call was made in the Dáil for independent individuals other than gardaí to investigate cases involving members of the force. Joe Higgins (Soc, Dublin West) made the call when he referred to the death of Derek O'Toole (24), who was killed on Sunday morning in Lucan, Co Dublin in a road traffic incident.
Mr Higgins said Mr O'Toole's mother had made a valid complaint about reports that her son was "known to the gardaí", which was "code for having a criminal record or for being a person of ill-repute, neither of which is true".
Mr Higgins said he made "no judgment on what happened, subject to a full investigation, but members of the Garda Síochána were involved in the tragedy".
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said it was "regrettable that initial reports from an unnamed source attempted to put Derek's character at issue", but he said "it does no one any service to jump to conclusions in respect of matters of this nature". Mr Ahern added that the DPP was an independent officer who would decide if further action was required.
Mr Higgins said "there is a suspicion that when members of the Garda Síochána are involved in such incidents a spin is put to the media anonymously and from unattributed sources, to secure a prejudgment on issues that arise in the case with a view to minimising the responsibility of the gardaí involved".
Mr Ahern said he had been given assurances that the leak had come neither from the Garda press office nor from the investigators at the scene of the incident.
