Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that. I would like to go back to another aspect of the general tone of Ms Justice Ring's contribution. She spoke about the complaint procedure that applies when somebody is dealing with a shop manager about a person who has been rude to him or her. I appreciate and fully accept that it was an analogy. The problem with that analogy is that members of the Garda are in a very different position in terms of how they interact with the public. The vast majority of serving gardaí are there to do their level best every day to protect the communities they come from and serve. That is absolutely critical. A problem can arise because of the structured nature of the force. I would prefer it if a body such as GSOC were dealing with such basic complaints. I say that on the basis of many of the factors advocated by Ms Justice Ring, such as people's need for openness and transparency and the feeling they are going somewhere. While I appreciate what she said about finding internal Garda solutions in such cases, I would be wary about going that way for a number of reasons. Ms Justice Ring indicated that the level of involvement of a superintendent, a member of internal affairs, four Garda members, two civilians and three GSOC personnel might be a reason for taking the approach she is advocating. I imagine that the number of people involved in an internal Garda disciplinary structure would not be much smaller, given the need to be fair to the public and the serving member of the force involved. I would be cautious about what Ms Justice Ring is advocating. I think the public likes the current approach. Even though a complaint like that mentioned by Ms Justice Ring is minor in the great scheme of things, it would be a very serious matter for the member of the public involved. We are talking about someone who has been abused not by another member of the public, but by a member of the Garda Síochána. I would be wary of trying to internalise that back in the Garda again, as Ms Justice Ring is advocating.