Lois West and Laura Galligan Deserve Independent Investigation into Homicide Figures – Kelly
Commenting on the publication of the CSO’s review of Garda Crime figures, Labour TD and Vice Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, Alan Kelly said:
“The revelation that the number of homicides being recorded by the Gardaí since 2003 are completely wrong needs to be independently investigated.
“The CSO have now found that 234 more homicides occurred than previously stated. They have now created an ‘Under Reservation’ category until all the cases from 234 are investigated in full.
“That Gardaí Senior Management consistently played down this issue until recently is deeply concerning. Why were they continuously trying to play down the real homicide figures in this country?
“Was it just incompetence or were there other reasons that motivated Senior Gardaí to keep the statistics lower than the real figures? We need to get to the bottom of this.
“Only for the brave actions of Lois West and Laura Galligan, two civilian personnel in the Garda’s statistics unit who fought to highlight their concerns regarding the homicide figures and also rallied against severe pressure from Garda Management to lower their professional standards.
“The Minister for Justice must honour this work of these two brave women and now establish an independent enquiry to establish why and how the Gardaí ensured homicides statistics were completely misrepresented and dumbed down.”