Mr. Mark Toland:

In our last report, we produced a significant piece of work around what happens, namely, how many people turn up to work, what they do when they are at work and what the outcomes are.

We found more people were on duty at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday than at 11 p.m. on a Saturday, when one would expect to be busy. We have recommended that they run a similar process. We carried out a live audit that examined what 11,000 gardaí were doing on Tuesdays and on Saturdays and what the outcomes were. We have put in a huge number of recommendations that they should run the process and ensure that, across Ireland, they have sufficient people with the right skills on duty at times when they are most needed. Again, it identified that there was an absence of supervisors in place across all divisions. I provided a separate addendum to the most recent report on rosters. The current roster is a one-size-fits-all model. In most other jurisdictions, this type of roster is designed for those officers called "regular units" who deal with 999 calls, it is not appropriate for detectives or community officers who need to be on duty at different times. Detectives are needed on duty during the day time and at court times, not at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. unless there is a particular reason. We have identified a number of issues around appropriate rosters that are specific to the work being done rather than a one-size-fits-all roster.

We have no remit regarding whistleblowers. Many of the people we have dealt with are not raising corruption, rather they raise issues relating to poor systems or practices. Some of those, even senior officers at superintendent and chief superintendent level, have a fear about raising their hands to challenge an approach the organisation is taking or ask why it is not done differently. Sometimes, when they do say something, it is not always well received. On occasion, senior managers are afraid to challenge the direction of their own organisation. I worked in an organisation in which one would be in trouble if one did not raise issues and ask whether we were doing things the right way or whether they could be done differently. We have made recommendations to try to encourage them to get their own people to raise issues and take it down to the people on the ground floor who can raise an issue. It does not have to be about corruption. It could be about a poor system or paperwork or a question as to why something is being done. There is an absence of engagement at all levels to allow staff to give feedback about what would make the organisation a much better organisation.