Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Reference was made to the fact that the intention is to align internal governance with a non-executive board and replace it with a process of external accountability that is being developed. The Minister mentioned that there had been public commentary about the concerns about the overall policing architecture and the extent of it in terms of the Garda Inspectorate, GSOC and the Policing Authority itself. Is the Minister concerned that by taking out part of the functions of the Policing Authority and replacing them with a new merged structure composed of the Policing Authority and the Garda Inspectorate, we could create confusion about the policing architecture rather than consolidating where there have been difficulties by splitting the accountability roles?

As my colleague said, if there are no executive members on the board, it may be that not all the relevant parties are involved. How then do we have a true process of openness whereby it is ensured the board is given the relevant information? It is an important part of corporate governance to have external oversight within the board but also to include executives to develop a process of openness around the board. Does the Minister have any thoughts on that? We could be creating further difficulties around accountability rather than consolidating the existing structures.