Mr. Mark Toland:

We have given the matter serious consideration. We see that we should remain independent. Every jurisdiction that surrounds Ireland has an independent inspectorate. We are very clear that we should not be doing academic pieces of work and research pieces of work because sometimes we are given such work. We think other bodies could do that work and we should carry out inspections, go back and check to make sure things happen and focus on implementation. We have had these enormous reports that we have been asked to complete. There is no need for us to go back and do a whole-of-organisation report in the immediate future. Instead, we should be going back to check whether previous recommendations have been implemented.

We recognise that we need to provide a service to the Policing Authority and we have had a number of meetings to discuss how we can operate.

Ms Shields is doing a piece of work for the Policing Authority currently and this is the first report we will do for the authority. We believe we can provide it with our expertise. The problem we would have in the future, if we became part of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, or the Policing Authority, is around the level of trust we have when we conduct inspections. When the Garda Síochána Inspectorate conducts investigations it is not responsible for investigating complaints and is not responsible for Garda members' promotion. We are seen as an organisation that can help them. People trust us and they provide us with information. When one considers the level of detail in our reports, and the accuracy of what people are telling us, I believe that people would be afraid to engage with the inspectorate in the future if it was attached to the Policing Authority or another organisation. It would damage our relationship. We say it as it is, we do not pull any punches - as members will see in our report - and the richness of our report comes through our interaction with reserves, civilians and Garda members. It would damage this relationship and make it more difficult for us to get to the root of what the problems are.