Mr. Martin Callinan:

That matter was of concern to us. I want to clear up the contact and the arrangement as reported in the media. As with all high-profile funerals, we appoint a family liaison officer to engage with family. On this occasion, contact was with the family and family members. Certain assurances were given to us in the context of the arrangements with the funeral and that is what we hope to achieve through that form of engagement. I will try to deal with the Deputy's question but I must be careful. We have arrested 21 people and a number of people are before the courts in the context of the case so I must be careful. In general terms, the organisation and I, as Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, are firmly focused on the activities of so-called dissident groupings and individuals within these groups. We worked tirelessly with our colleagues on the northern side to ensure we bring about the type of intervention and dismantling of these groups that is required to keep people in communities on both sides safe.

We have a strong Garda presence on the Border. We target particular individuals within these groupings and we share our intelligence with our colleagues in the PSNI and the British security services, with whom we interact. All of those aspects are contributing towards providing a safer community for everybody.

The murder of Alan Ryan was dreadful, and we extend our sympathy to the Ryan family. There has been considerable reportage in the media and it would be inappropriate for me to comment on Mr. Ryan or on what he represented. The investigation is live and we continue to employ vast resources in bringing the perpetrators of that crime to justice. We already have people before the courts, as the committee knows.

We are continuing to identify the people who were engaged in the display of paramilitarism. We will continue to make further arrests and bring people before the courts in regard to that. I have already publicly declared my support for the senior officer who was in charge on that day. It would have been wrong, and his professional judgment was correct in this regard, to have used force to intercede, which is what we would have been required to do on the occasion. There were many onlookers at the funeral procession, including women, children, men, neighbours and friends. It would have been inappropriate to intervene. I have said that previously. The professional judgment made by the senior commanding officer on the day was the right decision.

Will we take the foot off the pedal in future engagements with these people? That is not likely. It is a policing priority. The first of our strategic goals is national and international security. That is at the heart of what we are discussing. We will deploy as many resources, human and financial, as we deem appropriate to ensure that we keep the communities on both sides of this island safe. That includes countering this type of activity.