Ms Josephine Feehily:

First, I do not agree with the characterisation that they were ignored. The first contact from Ms West resulted in a telephone call back to her - that was a request to attend a meeting that had been arranged for later that week. The response which was given to her was that it was a matter for the Garda as to who attended the meeting. We had no objection to them attending the meeting, but it was a matter for the Garda as to who would come. It was a meeting that was scheduled with the analysis service. That was the first contact. It was not ignored. They phoned, they asked a question and they got a telephone call back saying that this is the position. It was an entirely unremarkable, uncontentious unengagement. It was simply a courtesy.

The second contact resulted in a call back to them, again as a courtesy, which pointed out to them that we had their letter to the senior Garda team and that all the items on that agenda were on our agenda. We were live to all their concerns and that we would be following up on them. They were not ignored. Each time they contacted us by telephone, they received a telephone call back and they were given assurances that their concerns were on our agenda and we were live to them. In many ways, I would say the most useful service the authority could do for Ms Galligan and Ms West was to listen to their concerns from their official paperwork and use that paperwork to continue to persist and follow through in our questioning with the Garda.