Ms Noirín O'Sullivan:

I thank the Chairman. The dual mandate for An Garda Síochána which combines the security and policing functions is admired by a number of international observers. It was recently the subject of very positive commentary from a United Nations executive directorate. It is a very important function which has served the State, the nation and the people very well. We should remember that at the heart is the safety of communities. As the Chairman has said, there is a very close correlation between the policing function and the security function, in particular, in the context of local policing on this island and the trust and confidence of the people of the country which has been built up over several years.

On the question about oversight of the security side, there is extensive independent judicial oversight which reports directly to the Oireachtas. It is independent oversight of the range of security activities. In my view this should remain and it should be strengthened. I would see it working in the context of the policing authority and then the security function. I do not see them being incongruent in any way. They can be complementary and be a support to each other when it comes to accountability, oversight and governance. The way I envisage it working is that the Garda Commissioner would be accountable to the policing authority in respect of all policing matters and also reporting to the Minister, the Oireachtas and the Government on the security side. That is the way it works in a number of other jurisdictions, in particular in Scandinavian jurisdictions, and it works particularly well.