Allegations raised in the Dáil yesterday regarding Garda malpractice in the handling of informants in Co Leitrim have been with the Department of Justice and other authorities since 2012.
However, the two gardaí behind the claims have lost faith in the internal complaints system. According to Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny, who detailed the allegations in the Dáil, they now believe a public whistleblowing approach is necessary to provoke a thorough investigation,
Mr Kenny said the unidentified men, one garda and one sergeant, had originally raised their concerns regarding the handling of informants in 2009.
This was prompted by a belief that information a criminal gang was targeting their homes was not passed on to them. They believed one of the gang members was an informant who had told senior gardaí the homes were being targeted.
Their concerns had been brought to local garda management, the office of the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (Gsoc) in 2010 and to the office of the Minister for Justice in 2012 and again in 2014.
Unsatisfactory
Mr Kenny said on the second occasion it was raised at departmental level a meeting was arranged with the two men in question but they felt the outcome to be unsatisfactory.
“These men are very frustrated and they felt very let down,” he said.
The gardaí, both now retired, are understood to have approached Mr Kenny under whistleblowing legislation.
The Sinn Féin deputy for Sligo-Leitrim said two other members have also approached him with separate concerns relating to the same district.
Last night the Department of Justice said it was “open to any member of An Garda Síochána to make a protected disclosure as provided for in legislation”. It did not respond to the allegations. The Garda and Gsoc did not comment.
Other claims
While the original complaint regarded information from an informant about the targeting of their homes not being passed on to them, other claims were also detailed in the Dáil.
Mr Kenny has contacted the Minister for Justice and Gsoc to request meetings regarding the claims and has called for the establishment of a commission of investigation into alleged malpractice in Leitrim, which he claims is ongoing.
He told the Dáil “rogue” gardaí were using criminal informants to entrap people and then prosecute them.
In one case he alleged a Garda informant working under the direction of two gardaí stole tools and a generator from a builder’s shed and then sold the generator to a man whose house was searched the next day and the property recovered. The man was charged and convicted with having stolen property.
Mr Kenny said a Garda informant was allegedly instructed by his handler to set a trap for a person at an NCT centre, leaving money as a bribe to get the car through the test, which it should not have passed. That employee was charged and convicted of accepting a bribe and lost his job.
High ranking gardaí were alleged to be protecting these rogue gardaí and covering for them with secrecy and denial.
