Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

That is a specific question, but I will answer in a general way. As the Chairman can imagine, organisations such as the Garda Síochána are reluctant to enter this territory at all. It regards any trespass into this territory as being almost dangerous. As such, I am pleased that we have an agreement at Government level - I hope that the Dáil also agrees - to the effect that the Garda Síochána will be encompassed by this legislation in so far as its administrative functions operate.

The Chairman's specific question strikes me as relating to an administrative function that would not necessarily have an impact on legal or criminal proceedings, although it might. We should know the administrative information - for example, the deployment of gardaí, how policing decisions are made, etc. To the extent that the matter raised by the Chairman is administrative information, it would be in the public domain and subject to freedom of information requests. Obviously, criminal investigations would not be encompassed.