Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the officials and wish them the best of luck, in particular the acting Secretary General. I appreciate that she has a difficult job. Indeed, it is probably one of the most difficult jobs in the Civil Service. I say that genuinely.

Before I discuss IT matters, I will ask Ms McPhillips to bring a message to her Department's policing division. Yesterday, I attended the justice committee for three hours. Without much notification, the acting Garda Commissioner and the deputy commissioner did not bother to turn up. It was an insult to the democratic institutions of the State and a joke. I do not doubt that one of them could have attended. For example, the deputy commissioner was handing out certificates at Templemore, but no one was being conferred until 2 p.m. and the meeting was at 9 a.m. I hope that Ms McPhillips will communicate my message through the Department. The committee was disgusted by what happened. We could not get accountability because the chief person who attended was not able to answer many of our questions, given his role in the organisation. He was not ranked.

Turning to the IT projects that have come under scrutiny, there was an ICT governance group. I welcome that Ms McPhillips has openly stated that there were issues in this regard, as it is not always the case. An ICT governance group was in place, but did it actually do much? Did it not spot some of these issues? I am a former IT manager. Did the group not see the-----