Mr. Mark Kelly:

Again, I have the disadvantage of not having seen the inspectorate’s submission. I do not see it so much as a merger of the Garda Inspectorate and GSOC. I would see it more as an assumption by GSOC of some of the powers and functions that are currently vested in the Garda Inspectorate, but the question then immediately arises as to whether there are other powers and functions currently vested in the inspectorate that ought to sit with the new Garda authority. There is a tripartite question for me. I would not look at it in terms of merger; I would be looking at it in terms of two independent bodies – GSOC on the one hand and the new Garda authority on the other – asking themselves whether they have within their existing capacity the expertise to do this new role and, if not, what they need to do to address that. International experts of the character and calibre of Bob Olson and others who work for the Garda Inspectorate might well be people who would work on a consultancy basis, for example, either for GSOC or for the Garda authority if independent bodies felt that was necessary.