Three out of four members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) accused by a female member of bullying and harassment are refusing to co-operate with an independent investigation.

The investigation, by industrial relations firm Acrux Consulting, began two weeks ago, more than a year after the female member made her complaint.

Only one of the four she has made the allegations against is co-operating with the investigation.

The Irish Examiner understands that at least one of the members refusing to co-operate has threatened legal action if the investigation proceeds.

It is unclear what legal basis exists in the GRA for appointing an outside agent to investigate such a complaint. The GRA is the representative organisation for 10,200 rank-and-file garda members.

It has district, regional, and national structures and the female member’s complaint relates to alleged treatment while on GRA business.

The GRA confirmed in a statement “an independent fact-finding investigation is currently ongoing” into the matter and that it would not be appropriate to comment on it. The statement to the Irish Examiner also asked the newspaper to identify its source for the story.

As you will appreciate and to be fair to all parties concerned we have to ask the question, who are your ‘reliable’ sources? Please confirm whether they are any of the members complained of, or the member making the compliant?” the statement read.

The statement failed to address questions about how long the complaint had been outstanding and what legal basis existed for the investigation.

Earlier this year, the GRA came in for severe criticism of how it is run in a report compiled for the organisation by management consultants Ampersand.

Among the raft of shortcomings referenced in the report were:

The complete gender imbalance in the Central Executive Council (CEC)

A significant dysfunction in how the elected leadership body functions

Archaic accounting and reporting systems, with less than adequate transparency in financial accounting and inadequate reporting

Systems of communication that are archaic, capable of being partisan, insufficient and unsatisfactory in content and not meeting members’ reasonable expectations

Ampersand called for a reduction in the membership of the CEC, which remains a 31-member body.

It also recommended a complete overhaul of the sub-committee system. At the beginning of this year, there were over a dozen sub-committees drawn from the CEC, which meet around once a month.