Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Fitzpatrick back to the committee and thank him very much for his presentation and the work the body is doing. I will touch on a few areas about which he commented to colleagues and a number of matters in the report. He referred to the rationale used in the change to the Garda rosters. I agree that it was a massive change and have witnessed the huge difference it has made in my community. He said this would not have happened before and the fact that it is happening now is a tribute to the Croke Park agreement. However, it should have happened previously and the normalisation of such change is a move to where we should be and perhaps is not the achievement it is made out to be. The Garda rosters had not changed for 40 years and I acknowledge fully that it is a gigantic change. However, this has not changed since the 1960s and the country has changed beyond all recognition. Perhaps this is not the strongest case that can be made to recognise the change.