Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring:

To be honest, I would be alarmed to hear that was the case. Insofar as we deal with, perhaps, 2,000 complaints per annum, I cannot say I know what the Chairman is talking about in terms of the individual case, but it would not be appropriate to comment on it. I am, however, happy to speak to the Chairman about the case following the meeting, but I would be very surprised to hear someone was not given an opportunity to be heard. There are procedures in place. By its nature, an investigation should involve somebody who is making a complaint because we cannot know what to investigate unless we receive the full complaint. The right to be heard of the garda or gardaí, whom it is alleged has or have done something wrong, is also important. It should not be until after these two aspects of a complaint are dealt with that a decision is made about the future of the case. In that sense, I would be very alarmed.