Mr. John O'Callaghan:

There is an overall governance agreement. The Secretary General meets the Commissioner formally two or three times a year under the agreement. We have monthly meetings where I, or the Garda chief administrative officer, CAO, or the deputy Garda commissioner meet to discuss ongoing issues, especially around resources, staffing and so forth. There are tripartite meetings of governance between ourselves, the Policing Authority and the Commissioner. There is one in the next week or two. There is quite an extensive formal governance arrangement in place to ensure engagement between the Department, the Commissioner and, on occasion, the Policing Authority.

On the characterisation of the relationship being deferential, I would describe the relationship as a respectful one between two important organs of the State dealing with important issues.