Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On my own behalf, I have a couple of points before closing. The first of them is that I erred in signalling that the Garda Commissioner will be coming before us on 5 October. It will actually be on 12 October. On Wednesday next, 5 October, we will have the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality. We will deal with that in private session in a few moments.

On the expected new regulations on commencing her functions vis-à-visthe appointment of senior Garda positions, Ms Feehily used the word "shortly" in her earlier response. Could she translate that into any timeframe or is it likely in the remaining period to the end of the year?

I have a couple of questions and I will bundle them for Ms Feehily, if I may. In terms of her remarks and looking at the strategy, while I understand and accept that every day in life is a new and learning experience and we are always building on what we have done before, is there a bedding-down period? Is there a reasonable expectation of when the new Policing Authority will be functioning at its zenith? Ms Feehily might give us a sense of it.

I commend the use of the word "service" in relation to An Garda Síochána and policing. It rattles with me when the word "force" is used. It gives a completely wrong and negative message. I commend that and I hope it will have a currency right across the board. It is important that it does.

How regularly does the authority meet? Ms Feehily is talking about creating the means of measuring, and I note that throughout. Setting targets and the authority having a methodology to measure progress comes across as how it goes about that, but are there other, preferably better, means of measuring progress? There may be others but if they are not better, they are of no use. Has Ms Feehily considered any other methodology of measuring progress in terms of her objectives other than mere target-driven methodology?

Ms Feehily spoke about plentiful correspondence, which is good for a relatively new organisation. Does the correspondence by its nature reflect an awareness of the Policing Authority's role and function, or is some or much of it misdirected, as can often be the case in our experience in public life?