Mr. Drew Harris:

I wholeheartedly support that. The position at the moment is all members have been through the training, which is now complete. It was a very extensive training programme and in the order of 7,000 members have signed the code of ethics. I can give the precise figure to Chairman. It keeps creeping on up. As a consequence, when talking to members in public or private, I do not lose an opportunity to emphasise the importance of the code of ethics. Together with the Policing Authority, we have a constant focus on it. We are issuing a short video about the importance of the code of ethics to the organisation, which will be followed by further intervention from myself in terms of asking each individual to sign the code of ethics. There is also work ongoing with the various representative associations for them to throw their weight behind it as well. It had an uneasy arrival into the organisation. We are starting to stabilise it in terms of some of the things that were said about it. It is not an appendix to our discipline code. It sets out the standards that we expect of each other and, more important, the standards society expects of us. It is an essential piece setting out our behaviours in society. It will be further built upon when we introduce more of a human rights ethos and emphasis on our policing function as well. The Chairman is correct; this is a direction of travel. I can also say that unless a garda has signed the code of ethics, he or she does not get promoted; really, his or her career closes down as he or she will not be invited into the specialisms and so on. It is not just about asking. There are also some teeth in it. The important element, when we stand back from it, is that we in An Garda Síochána are here to protect the rule of law and in doing so we must set the highest standards for ourselves. The code of ethics is a document that sets that out. It is a living document in terms of providing guidance.