Mr. Pat Leahy:

It is an absolute requirement if we are to address the issues that raised in the report of the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland. That is what it has in mind. It is also what we have in mind ourselves. Some aspects of it are beyond our control but it is definitely the way to go. We have experimented with that recently in respect of the joint agency response to crime, JARC. What is emerging from that process is that having the agencies working together is the way to go. There is no doubt that it is the solution. The statistics from JARC show that it is working. Working together in partnership is the answer. That will be part and parcel of the community policing model that we will roll out. Again, this is about agencies coming together. The agencies have been working together for decades on an ad hocbasis. It is not based on service level agreements but such an approach is needed. The process must be structured and driven from the top. The agencies have worked well together in the past.

The fact that we work very closely with the local authorities and the various services throughout the country is undisputed, but it is not structured and is not based in legislation.