Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All those involved in our national security, particularly in An Garda Síochána, have always taken their role seriously and will continue to do so. We have a number of deputy commissioner roles in positions dealing with a number of different matters. To be clear, no person would be or will be appointed to any security position where he or she might pose a particular threat or might not be appropriate. I reaffirm that position, which I have stated many times. The competition is in process. It closed in the last number of weeks and we have to allow it to continue. Issues were raised. The Senator might be aware that her colleague brought a memo to Government today to review a particular standard fund threshold, which is an issue that was raised. That review will be completed by the summer and potential recommendations might be made in that regard.

Regarding the criteria, the process proposed in the Bill is that the board, instead of the authority, would lead the charge in the appointment process, engaging with the Minister but also the authority to set out the criteria and working closely with the Public Appointments Service.As is the case with any legislation, we would not be overly prescriptive as to what that needs to be, and I do not intend to change that. An independent security body will be established through the Bill to review our security legislation and examine potential weaknesses and changes that need to be made. That is new in this legislation.