Mr. Drew Harris:

In respect of security checks, I am an individual who was subjected to a very high level of vetting for two decades on foot of the various roles I held. That vetting, which was under constant renewal, was still in place for me and still live. I have had to do it for other individuals who have transferred from the PSNI to An Garda Síochána. What happened is that the Chief Constable provided an assurance in respect of that vetting and, indeed, my vetting certificates were provided to An Garda Síochána as a demonstration of that. The vetting is there to ensure that one is not open to coercion or blackmail or whatever it might be and that there are no issues surrounding one's private life or affiliations which could give rise to concern. It is a very thorough process, including both financial and private life checks. I have undergone that vetting process and been subject to it. One does not do it once, but is subject to it constantly. There is no issue about the level to which I have been vetted and that was resolved through the normal channels.

The obligations I have under the Official Secrets Act here are similar to those I had under the UK's Official Secrets Act. In effect, when I left the Police Service of Northern Ireland in early August, I stopped being an individual who was a member of the police service. On 3 September, I swore my oath in the role of Commissioner and undertook within that to defend and secure the State under the Constitution and the requirements placed on me. Those are obligations I take very seriously. I have answered questions previously on this. Any matters I am aware of were always dealt with properly in terms of sharing information with An Garda Síochána when I was serving with the Police Service of Northern Ireland. As such, I have no reservations about any of my time in charge of crime operations. A lot of this has been pointed towards me, but I am not really sure what the issue is. It was one police service dealing with another, namely, An Garda Síochána. That was the course of how events happened throughout that time.