Ms Josephine Feehily:

I have not had a chance to read the report in full because it arrived yesterday and I was pre-occupied with getting ready for today. The group engaged with me for a couple of hours one afternoon a while ago. I would have expressed the view to them, which I think is recorded in the report, that the structure that has been put in place in the legislation, which separates policing from security, could, if it was considered appropriate, provide a basis for protecting the security of the State in the context of the right to strike. That was really the question asked by the group. In terms of the big question of whether it should happen, I think the ILO or the Council of Europe had already opined on this matter and it seemed to me at that time that the working group had a very strong piece of information. I have not read the group's rationale as to why it went from there down to a conclusion on the right to strike.

There are huge risks and concerns to public confidence if the Garda strike lightly. The security aspect is absolutely clear. In my view the security of the State does require certain essential elements of the Garda Síochána to be unable to strike and after that it is a matter of judgment. In other parts of Europe where there is more than one police service, some police services have the right to strike and some do not. It is a matter of judgment. So long as we have a unitary service it is a very difficult issue. The report, it seems to me, says one has the right to strike if one is at one's desk but not in other instances. My answer to the commission was very much around if it is a unitary service than the situation is particularly problematic. If the decision to separate happened then there might be a different way to approach the issue.