Mr. Martin Callinan:

I am obliged, Chairman. It is a fact that I regard this subject as being so serious and critical to the operations of An Garda Síochána that I choose not to make public comment. This is not to say that I do not welcome the opportunity to appear before the Chairman and his committee to answer as fully as I can all the questions they require me to answer. I am accountable to this committee, the Minister and the Government for my public office. Where we have some issues with GSOC, I prefer to deal with them in private. That said, I assure the Deputy that the level of co-operation between An Garda Síochána and the ombudsman commission was and will continue to be an ongoing event. The fact we might not see eye to eye on certain sensitive matters is something we must work through.

For this reason, in most of the cases being discussed, particularly concerning sensitive intelligence and sensitivities in the intelligence world, very careful consideration had to be given to GSOC's requests. I am referring to the need to disclose the identity of an informant. This is a very serious matter for me.

It is a serious matter for all of us in this room and for the citizens of this country. Without me and my colleagues knowing the precise nature of what will happen to that information and how it is handled, we would surely be putting a life, or lives, at risk. That is the naked reality of where we are going. If I am talking about disclosing the identity of an informant or releasing sensitive intelligence that has come from a particular informant, I must be assured that information and intelligence are handled in a particular way and that the disclosure of that information cannot occur to any third party, save that it would be useful to the investigators within the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to achieve their function and purpose.

That is why I have been looking for guarantees as to how that information would be handled and dealt with. That is my duty under the human rights and data protection legislation, as well as under my duty of care as the holder of that information. For the obvious reasons I have outlined, I have to be satisfied as to where and how that information is used. That is what was causing difficulty, in my view, in relation to some - not all, I have to be fair - delays that were caused. I am happy to report that given the situation with the new protocols that were signed, we have in place a mechanism whereby we can move forward on this issue. We have ordained certain things to happen to facilitate the free exchange of that information and access to the documentation we have.

I hope we will be able to move on in a spirit of co-operation. Like everyone else in this room, I have read reports about not co-operating with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Not co-operating, however, is a far cry from refusing point blank to engage. There are regular meaningful discussions, some difficult and complex, with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in terms of how we transact our business. At all times, I and my team of officers - and all the people who are engaged with the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission - are clear that we are subject to oversight and must co-operate. We must ensure, however, that whatever we do and say is balanced with the responsibility to protect the information and intelligence we have.

The Deputy mentioned running informants off the books. I assure him that I am not aware, nor is any member of my team here aware, of any such activity. If the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission has evidence or information that it is occurring in An Garda Síochána, I and my team of officers will deal with it firmly. Our policy is quite clear. It should not happen, it cannot happen and, as far as I am concerned, it will not happen. If I find out about it, I will deal with it in a most serious way. This business is far too serious for this type of thing to take place.

To be fair, I should also make the point that non-compliance by one particular individual does not, of itself, equate to organisational failures in implementing policy. Any system in any strata of society or business is vulnerable to non-compliance. I assure the Chairman and other members of the committee that if anyone comes forward with information that people are engaging in this sort of conduct, my officers and I will deal with it severely.