Mr. David Joyce:

Mr. Kelly has just said precisely what I was about to say. It is not that the Irish Human Rights Commission has a position on the structure or role of an intelligence service. The reality is there are elements of intelligence being done. It exists already and is part of what the Garda does. Our concern is that it gets used partly as a reason for not allowing full oversight or full investigation of complaints against the Garda. This is the point at which we have concern, as I believe we set out in our submission. It is not that we are suggesting there should not be an intelligence service of sorts, and we are not going to set out the criteria as to what or where it carries out its role.

There is clearly a need for some form of intelligence gathering of that nature but what is important is oversight. Again, we come back to the core principle that without oversight from an independent body or Oireachtas committee in a formal manner, we would have concerns, including human rights concerns. Our position is identical to what Mr. Kelly just set out.