David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not disagree with the proposal that witnesses come back before the committee but I will add just one caveat to it. I was away last week so I missed last week's exchanges, but it was more of the same: witnesses came in and gave their views, members asked questions and the witnesses were away on their toes. Now we are looking for them to come back again, not, I hope, in order that we have the same exchange and the same one-day outing again, after which we are none the wiser. When we say we want to put the matter to bed, what do we mean? I see it this way - the central question being put was whether the reopening of one Garda station was a stroke. That is the question people were asking. Let us cut to the chase - that is it, or was the reopening based on evidence, proper process, proper procedures and so on.

We have a report and we should examine it. The job of this committee is to come down one way or another on the practice, process and procedures followed. This goes back to what I have been saying about all the work we do. Again, people are coming before the committee for the sake of it. We have our say, they have theirs, they are away and we and the public are none the wiser. Either this was done right or it was not. I believe the committee must look at the report and hear from the witnesses. It does not have to be a big report; it can be a one or two page view of what we believe happened or did not happen. However, there must be some conclusion, in my view. Otherwise, what are we doing? I would, therefore, put that caveat on people coming back in. There is a logic to it. I speak in an unbiased way because I do not know what the answer is, and it may well be that proper process and proper procedures were followed or that may not be the case. Let us examine the matter and then let us adjudicate on it based on what we are here to do, which is to examine the practices, processes and procedures around the decision-making that led to the reopening of this Garda station.