David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not put that question to Mr. Barrett and I will finish by saying the following to the Chairman. I asked at the start of this process a number of months ago when we first started to ask questions about this that we would examine process. In examining process, what we have found is that it is an entitlement of the Minister to set criteria for the Commissioner. We have now learned that it is also the prerogative of the Commissioner - in this case, it was the former Commissioner - to change the criteria and that did not happen. If the criteria had been changed, for example, to give heavy credence to the view of Mr. Leahy, it probably would have ended up with a different outcome. That concerns me. I believe that Mr. Leahy's view of having operational command in Dublin should have been front and centre and I said this at the start. The question is this. Was a decision made for purely operational purposes and purely based on the best expenditure of Garda resources or was it a political decision? That is the question we were asking. From the answers that I have heard, I have my own view.