David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that Mr. Harris put a heavy emphasis in his opening statement on his responsibility as the Accounting Officer in relation to financial governance. That would be warmly welcomed by this committee because it is our core function, but I imagine he would also put the same emphasis on his responsibility in relation to transparency, good governance and accountability. In that vein, GSOC raised concerns in relation to its authority yesterday or the day before. I am assuming that Mr. Harris understands why GSOC was established in the first instance and what its role is. It is independent. It said it was unable to ensure there was proper oversight of An Garda Síochána. In fact, it said it was impossible for a number of reasons. One reason was that it finds out about issues from the media, and not directly from the appropriate channels, and the other was that the supposed lines of communication and reporting within An Garda Síochána itself was problematic. Given that Mr. Harris takes his responsibility seriously, I assume he is concerned that that is GSOC's impression and view of its ability to do its job independently. Can Mr. Harris respond to that?