Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan:

Yes. Over the years there was a practice that recognised people who had certain qualifications. The moratorium on recruitment, especially on civilian recruitment, meant we were not able to get civilian staff in all the way back to 1996. By necessity, members of An Garda Síochána who had specific qualifications or who had skilled themselves up in certain areas were brought in to fill critical gaps in the organisation. Working with the Policing Authority, we are now making sure we identify the skill sets we require in the organisation and then we look to hire suitably qualified professional civilians.