Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring:

I understand that north of the Border it is clear that they can investigate all existing or retired members. One of the practical realities that we have seen over time is that we have started investigations and in the course of the investigation someone retires, whether he or she retires as always planned or whether the investigation has caused him or her to reconsider his or her career options. They go outside the Garda service and that often brings an investigation to a halt. We seek both. In the Metropolitan Police Force, for instance, if an investigation has commenced and somebody decides that it is an appropriate time to retire he or she can have his or her retirement delayed so that a full investigation can take place. Such a provision here would deal with a lot of issues. Sometimes the problems about retired members, who are already retired, is there are old complaints. The investigation may grind to a halt in any event because of the delay in making the complaint. We would like more flexibility across the board. We would like clarity so that we can carry out an investigation on retired people. Delayed retirement is an issue that can also be considered. What we have done in our proposals throughout is indicate a problem and a solution. We are open to discussing how that is put into some sort of statutory framework. We thought it was important to set out in our submission what we have seen as a problem and what we suggest is a solution. Ultimately, it will be up to the committee members and their colleagues to decide what to do with the proposals.