Mr. Drew Harris:

Much work has gone into the modernisation and renewal programme. I have arrived to see some of the benefits, with the investigation management system to be introduced in the new year, as well as the computer-aided rostering system and computer-aided despatch, which will deliver command and control. These are big information technology projects that are being landed into a public organisation with multiple complex systems. It would be a challenge for anybody to deliver.

Just looking at the digital strategy, there is much under way. Beyond that there is a human resources piece, which very much relates to workforce modernisation. It is a major project as well in terms of expanding the organisation and having the required training, in effect, for every new garda who comes in. There is training and investment in the individual while Garda staff are brought in to displace others at the front line. There are many plates spinning. We need more support in financial and human resources skills and we are working up what that would look like. It is well recognised within the organisation that we need more expertise.

The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland has described an end point for us and what the model of policing should be. It is now for us to deliver on that.

It is not at variance with the modernisation and renewal programme, MRP. In some areas, it leaves a great deal of discretion and it knows a great deal about the work that was ongoing. The commission took a great deal of time to look at the MRP. As such, the commission builds on and will guide the work which has already started. In the circumstances, I am not so pessimistic. While one needs to be realistic about what is in one's way and what problems need to be solved, if one has a clear idea of where one is going, one can be optimistic about what can be done. It has become clear to us and the Policing Authority what needs to happen to make these changes, acknowledging that it is complex. We have staff and skills issues to deal with, including training, and we have to look at our own structures and how we deliver policing and at the style of that policing. There is a great deal to do, but we have made a start and are standing on good foundations with a great deal of Government support.