Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The question has been asked on the conflict between Mr. Harris having been a member of the PSNI and now being the chief of the Garda Síochána. I will be honest. I think it is very good. We had two Garda Commissioners who are gone. In fairness, I feel we got the best man for the job. As I said, I am taking Mr. Harris at face value. I believe the experience he had working with the British security service, MI5, will be important going forward. Let us get rid of the negativity about this. The Commissioner is here to do a job. He is going to look after the Garda and protect the public. He mentioned working hard in the local community. He could make it a simple or a difficult job, and the thing I like is that he is making the job simple.

In his presentation he said he wanted gardaí to be visible, polite and honest, to work hard and to remember that their core duty is to protect and support the community, which is perfect. Given the contacts he has made in his years working with the PSNI, what are his plans? Will he still be able to contact the people he met in his previous job? Although I am a Deputy now, in my previous life I was involved in a business. The important part of running a successful business is being able to delegate, and a person has to phone up and ask people for advice and everything else. It is pretty much the same in all fields. I am sure the Commissioner has made good contacts and I am sure he has much information from his previous job. Will all of that still be available for him to work with?