Ms Catriona Doherty:

On the point regarding the initial risk assessment form, I cannot emphasise enough the importance of training in this regard. Putting procedures in place is great but if people are not trained by a particular deadline, that process becomes meaningless. Head 20 is particularly important because it specifies that gardaí should be trained, but nowhere in that head is a timeframe referred to within which that training should take place. There is need for incorporation of a deadline in this regard.

Head 7 is welcome in that it provides that all victims should receive an acknowledgement of complaint. Currently a person may believe he or she has made a complaint only to find out two weeks later following contact with the Garda Síochána regarding an update on that complaint that there is no record of that complaint having been made. It is in the context of rural stations where resources may be lacking that the training and acknowledgement is especially important.