Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am curious about the Rits report that was commissioned. I understand it was commissioned by the Department of Justice and Equality or the Minister. I am keen to hear a little more about how, when, why and what the tendering process was, if there was one, and how long Rits took to carry out the report. I am unclear on when it was commissioned and therefore I am unclear on how long the company spent on the report. There is a question relating to the reliability of that report. It seems to contradict everything, from what I have heard of the Minister's evidence today, contained in the Verrimus report about the security sweep, the three different elements, and so on. Is the Minister satisfied it is an entirely independent company? I note it has done a good deal of work for Departments to date. I gather Verrimus has not done any work for Departments, at least not to my knowledge. This is important if we are to rely on the report from Rits, which seems to have been hastily put together. It is based on a review of work already done by Verrimus, but not on any first-hand experience or investigation of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission headquarters. Can we can have full confidence in it and its veracity, authenticity and reliability?