Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

According to section 11(1), the threshold for the removal of a Garda Commissioner is if the individual "has failed to perform the functions of the office with due diligence and effectiveness or, in the case of the Garda Commissioner, has failed to have regard to any of the matters specified in section 26(2)," including not having regard to priorities, performance targets, the policing plan, the strategy statement or the policing principles and failing to comply with a directive. According to the authority's statements at press conferences, the Commissioner failed in this regard and was not fulfilling her duties in the manner expected of her. Ms Feehily is saying that this might be a matter for the future and raised the question of whether it was down to the Commissioner, a lack of resources or the management structure, but the Commissioner was the boss. She was not haranguing the Government for more resources for this, that or the other without which she could not do her job properly. She told us that she was doing her job properly. Clearly, she was not.

I wish to touch on a point that Deputy O'Callaghan raised about the Public Appointments Service, PAS, and the authority. Public statements by the Minister and the Taoiseach give the impression that the authority will pick the new Commissioner, but my reading of the legislation - much like Deputy O'Callaghan's - is that the authority will be on the sideline. Under section 9 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended, the procedure seems to require the authority to get approval from the Government in writing before inviting the PAS to conduct a competition for the selection of the new Commissioner. Once the authority gets the Minister's approval, it agrees with the PAS the marking criteria that will be used by the interview board when the PAS conducts the competition. However, subsection (5) reads: "The Service shall provide the Authority with particulars of the experience, qualifications, training and expertise of a person whom it recommends for nomination by the Authority under subsection (1) for appointment as the Garda Commissioner." My reading of this is that the PAS provides the authority with one name only and effectively runs the competition, makes the final choice and provides that name to the authority. The authority then nominates that person to the Government, which appoints him or her formally, if it so chooses. The important body appears to be the PAS. Although the Departments of Justice and Equality and Public Expenditure and Reform each have a representative on the PAS board, the Policing Authority does not.

The authority's role in the selection of the Commissioner is minimal. If the above is accurate, the authority's role has been overplayed by the Minister and the Taoiseach. Does Ms Feehily agree with me?

In addition to confirming the authority's interpretation and understanding of the process, will Ms Feehily outline who decides who will sit on the PAS interview board? Does she have the opportunity to sit on it? Mr. Martin Fraser sat on it previously on behalf of the Government, including to select the former Commissioner. How many individuals will sit on the new board and will a simple vote among them decide the selection?