Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is incredibly illuminating. I do not want to put the witnesses in the difficult position of having to comment on what the Department is doing but this is a forum to put on the public record some of the issues or to tease out what is going on behind the scenes. Hand on heart and on the basis of what has been said and the information provided, I am very worried about where this is going. The witnesses were before us three years ago and legislation had been drafted at the time. Deputy Wallace had drafted legislation that would have given us what all of us said we needed. It could have been in place by now but the witnesses have not seen any paperwork at all with respect to the draft heads of Bill in this respect. They have no idea what aspects are included. They have put on the public record that the body looking at implementation is heavy on civil servants and gardaí but there is zero involvement from the oversight bodies. That is scary and unhelpful from the Department's perspective. It is not really a question but the witnesses have provided that information and it is an appalling, although not really a surprising, spectre.

I ask about the current scenario with respect to the handling of protected disclosures. It is clearly a growing area in which the witnesses have been involved. What is the average timescale being looked at for GSOC to assess and come to a conclusion with a protected disclosure? I know they can be broad in range but what is the rough timeline? What kind of co-operation is being received from An Garda Síochána? Has it improved in the past year or two or has there been a noticeable difference? There was mention in the statement of how GSOC has opened investigations despite gardaí not informing the commission about incidents. The commission happens to hear about these in the media, etc. These include matters such as the temporary loss of a firearm and ammunition and so on. I am trying to get my head around how that would happen. I assume the commission would ask the Garda Síochána afterwards why it was not informed directly about such matters. What answer was given, assuming that question was asked? Is there anything that could be done to sanction that? It demonstrates a gap in accountability that is really ridiculous.

It would be helpful if there was more information on the matter.