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

That is exactly the phraseology I used in my most recent question to the Commissioner last week. I asked whether she is such a champion, and she said she is. I hope that proves to be the case. Mr. Toland has used strong language in terms of his assessment of the system across the board. He said it was "highly inefficient and negatively impacts on the deployment of resources". It is a strong statement and it should be highlighted and should not be lost in the overall presentation. Mr. Toland also said, "The current Garda culture is inhibiting change". This is a very strong statement and it needs to be noted and taken on board for all the right reasons. Mr. Toland also said, "While staff identified positives, such as a can-do culture and a sense of duty [all very welcome] many described the organisation as insular and defensive with a blame culture whereby many leaders are reluctant to make decisions and speak up". Mr. Toland referred to this in one of his responses.

The word "many" is significant. When we spoke to the Commissioner last week, she was at pains, understandably, to reference the number of whistleblowers as being small - a handful - in terms of the overall number in the service of An Garda Síochána, but many staff have a view of the organisation as insular and defensive and with a blame culture. In the engagements Mr. Toland has had, would many members have instanced situations he would have felt necessitated advice to refer to senior management or even to the newly prescribed means of highlighting these problems directly to GSOC through the protected disclosures process? Has such a situation ever presented in those engagements or has the Garda Inspectorate not been viewed by individuals members as an opportunity to reflect on serious matters, several of which have been highlighted in the recent past? The greater number of us are dependent on what the media tells us about these matters.