Ms Carmel Foley:

On the staff issue, we have not yet met the Minister. We deal with the Department of Justice and Equality directly on these matters, although we believe we will also be able to deal directly with the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Like all Civil Service bodies, ours was hit, understandably, by the cutbacks and austerity measures, but at the same time we believe our case for further staff in particular areas is valid. The procedure in this regard has been started and I hope to see progress this year.

As the Deputy pointed out, with further recruitment to the Garda force, it is statistically likely that there will be further complaints and the oversight body should also see its resources increase proportionately. I certainly agree with the Deputy in that regard.

We have been very careful to examine how we can maximise our resources and determine how, with better training of our own people, we can make better use of the public funds we have available. We do not necessarily always look outside for extra help. Of course, we are accountable for making the best use we can of our resources. That ties in with having more effective legislation that would not require our investigators to take the long way around in some cases, involving procedures and delays that could be avoided through a change to the Act.

I will hand over to Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring on the other issues.