Ms Lois West:

Again, if it tried to give an answer to that, it would be purely speculative so I will avoid that. However, regarding why we felt there was a reluctance, every time we tried to introduce a reference to a particular case from outside of the three-year sample period, we were shouted down and we were not permitted to bring those cases into consideration. I do not want to go into the specifics because I do not want to allude to particular cases but there were certain conversations around policy matters, for example. A policy cannot be written on the basis of a sample review. That would be short-sighted because there are nuances in each investigation and there can be differences. If one writes a policy that suits a particular group of incidents, it may not suit others. When one is doing something as important as writing policy, it is important that one is cognisant of all the variables when doing that. It felt at times that there was pressure to rewrite policy there and then as if Ms Galligan and I were the people who had the difficulty with the policy and, therefore, it was incumbent on us to say how we wanted it worded. This was never about Ms Galligan and I; this was about the concerns we had in relation to public confidence and reputational damage. We never at any stage wanted any of it to be personal; we just wanted to try to resolve the issues. It was of concern of us when we felt that we were not being allowed to raise pertinent issues.