Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, is the statutory body responsible for handling complaints from members of the public about the Gardaí. Under the Police, Safety and Community Safety Act 2024, Fiosrú succeeded the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) and has continued its work since April 2025. Its role is to provide effective, fair and independent oversight of police services in Ireland.
Its main responsibility is to deal with complaints made by members of the public about the conduct of members of the Garda Síochána, whether the allegations are of a criminal or disciplinary nature.
Organisational Structure
The Office of the Police Ombudsman consists of a Director General and staff appointed by the Ombudsman. These are:
Emily Logan, Police Ombudsman, and
Brian Doherty, Deputy Police Ombudsman.
Budget
GSOC’s budget for 2023 was €16,670,000, of which €12,233,000 was allocated to salaries and remuneration.
Powers and Competence
In addition to receiving complaints from members of the public, Fiosrú will continue to investigate cases that were already pending with the GSOC.
Its main responsibility is to deal with complaints from members of the public about the conduct of members of the Garda Síochána. Any member of the public can file a complaint about the Gardaí. There are several types of investigations that can be undertaken in response to complaints:
Criminal investigations: any allegation of a criminal offence in which a Gardaí is alleged to have broken the law may be investigated by Fiosrú’s own investigators.
Disciplinary investigations: any allegation relating to the quality of service provided by the Gardaí. These allegations may not be criminal in nature, but may constitute a breach of the Gardaí’s disciplinary and conduct regulations.
Independent investigations following referral by the Garda Síochána: Fiosrú may conduct investigations into circumstances where it appears that the conduct of a Garda, or Gardaí, may have resulted in the death or serious injury of a person. Such incidents are referred by the Garda Síochána so that the public can be assured of the independence of these investigations.
Public interest investigations: Fiosrú may investigate matters relating to the conduct of Gardaí where it is in the public interest to do so, even if no complaint has been received.
The Police Ombudsman may decide to open such an investigation or be referred to by the Minister for Justice. The Minister, the police authority or the Garda Commissioner may also refer a matter to Fiosrú for consideration as to whether it is in the public interest to investigate.
Number of complaints received in 2023
1,577 complaints were recorded in 2023, a decrease of 14% compared to 2022 (1,826). A complaint may contain several allegations, and the 1,577 complaints received in 2023 contained 3,358 separate allegations. The most common circumstances giving rise to complaints in 2023 were “customer service” (25%) and the behavior of Gardaí during arrests and investigations (14% each).
GSOC’s annual reports are available here: https://www.fiosru.ie/news-and-publications/gsoc-publications/gsoc-annual-reports/
Contact
Telephone: 0818 600 800
Email: info@fiosru.ie
Website: https://www.fiosru.ie/
Online complaint form: https://www.fiosru.ie/complaints/submit-a-complaint/
Twitter: https://x.com/FiosruOmbudsman?lang=en or @FiosruOmbudsman