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Special inquiries relating to administration, practice or procedure of Garda Síochána.
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42.— (1) The Minister, with respect to any matter considered by him or her to be of public concern, may by order appoint a person to—
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(a) inquire into any aspect of the administration, practice or procedure of the Garda Síochána, and
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(b) make a report to the Minister on the conclusion of the inquiry.
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(2) A person who, in the Minister’s opinion, has the experience, qualifications, training or expertise appropriate for the inquiry may be appointed to conduct the inquiry.
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(3) The Minister shall specify the terms of reference of the inquiry in the order under subsection (1) and may, by order made at any time before the submission of the final report, amend those terms for the purpose of clarifying, limiting or extending the scope of the inquiry.
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(4) For the purpose of the inquiry, the appointed person—
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(a) may require a member of the Garda Síochána who possesses information or has a document or thing in the member’s power or control that is relevant to the inquiry, to provide that information, document or thing to that person, and
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(b) where appropriate, may require such member to attend before the appointed person for that purpose.
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(5) A member of the Garda Síochána required under subsection (4)(b) to attend before the appointed person shall co-operate with the inquiry and shall answer fully and truthfully any question put to the member by that person.
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(6) A failure to comply with a requirement under subsection (4) shall be the subject of disciplinary action in accordance with the Disciplinary Regulations.
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(7) Any information, document or thing provided by a member of the Garda Síochána in accordance with a requirement under subsection (4) is not admissible in any criminal proceedings against the member and this shall be explained to the member in ordinary language by the appointed person.
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(8) The Minister may publish all or part of any report received under this section.
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(9) This section applies even if the matter considered by the Minister to be of public concern arose before the passing of this Act.
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(10) The power to order an inquiry under this Act is additional to any power conferred by this or another Act relating to inquiries or investigations.
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(11) In this section—
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“appointed person” means a person appointed under this section to conduct an inquiry;
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“criminal proceedings” does not include disciplinary proceedings.
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