Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will just emphasise, before I ask my final question, that the Commissioner has made a vitally important point. People were really shocked at the strength of the finding against the former Garda Commissioner, Mr. Martin Callinan, and the fact that someone in his position could be responsible for a campaign of that nature. It is vitally important that such behaviour is never repeated and that An Garda Síochána becomes an organisation that supports whistleblowers.

My final question is on overtime, which I have raised with the Minister for Justice and Equality on a number of occasions. Mr. Harris has introduced a moratorium or an effective ban on overtime as I understand it, between now and the end of this year. Any overtime request must now be sanctioned by two of the most senior gardaí in the State. A similar ban was introduced at Christmas last year but this ban is a much lengthier one. There is also a reduced budget, I believe, for overtime for 2019. I recognise that Garda budgets are under severe pressure and that in the abstract, too much is being spent on overtime but that is caused by the very real gaps that exist across a number of districts. According to replies to various parliamentary questions, most Garda districts are still at or below 2011 staffing levels. It is because of staffing gaps that districts are relying overtime to deliver essential policing services. I was canvassing yesterday on the south side of Dublin and two issues were flagged to me in terms of the problems this is causing at an operational level. Problems arose in Inchicore with an operation that was targeting a number of people involved in what appeared to be racially motivated attacks. In Drimnagh, a call was made to a Garda station on foot of serious anti-social behaviour but the call was not responded to because there were not adequate numbers of gardaí to safely respond. The Commissioner will not be aware of the specific details of these incidents and I do not expect him to respond in that regard. I am merely giving some examples of what was flagged with me. My question is whether Mr. Harris is confident that the overtime ban will not have a very significant impact on the quality of policing and the ability of gardaí to respond to crime between now and the end of the year, particularly with any potential spike in crime, public order issues, or increases in burglaries that often arise around the Christmas period.