Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring:

With respect to the implementation group membership, the committee members may be familiar with the publication from the Government relating to the timetable, entitled A Policing Service for the Future. Looking at the membership, it is clear that a significant number of members are Secretaries General from throughout the public service, as well as assistant secretaries general. There is a significant number of cross-departmental representatives and, unsurprisingly, the membership includes the Garda Commissioner. As the legislation is also going to deal with new structures in terms of oversight, I cannot help the committee in saying why it was not thought that there should be some representation from the current oversight bodies. We have had one meeting with the implementation personnel but they continue their work at their rate. Beyond that I am afraid the committee would have to direct questions to them. They have a very ambitious timetable under the supervision of the Department of the Taoiseach and it appears they are anxious to meet a start date for change of 1 January 2021. I wish them the best in that regard. We are anxious for that too.