John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In examining this I am not going to say that a particular allowance should or should not exist or is undeserved. However, I take it from the last paragraph of the Commissioner's statement that he believes many of these allowances should be subsumed into pay and that the system is probably not the best system, but that it evolved over time and should probably have been done a little differently. That is my understanding from what I have heard so far. There is no major issue on this side, generally speaking, with regard to allowances provided by the Garda. It is a question of understanding how the organisation deals with the issue of allowances as an organisation.

The Commissioner mentioned the issue of civilianisation in his opening remarks. The Comptroller and Auditor General has been involved in this issue for some time and has noted the lack of progress on civilianisation within the force. Currently, the ratio is 7:1, whereas in comparable police forces it would be about 4:1. The reasons for the lack of progress include the fact the Garda Síochána is involved in security and the moratorium. Are they the only reasons this has moved at such a slow pace over the years? Is there not some other reason?