Mr. Drew Harris:

From our cultural audit, there is a sense that promotion competitions and competitions for specialisms were rife with a sense of favouritism or associated with certain circles or cliques. We want to break that down. We will do that with the new approach to both promotion and competitions for specialisms. We want to be sure our competitions are fair. Specifically in respect of female members applying for promotion, the figures show we have good representation, examples being at assistant commissioner and chief superintendent levels. There are plenty of role models within the organisation. We are, however, looking towards a woman garda network to provide peer support for a female Garda members. That has been successful in other policing organisations in terms of mentoring and guidance and providing peer support, particularly when moving through specialisms or going for promotion. That is something we seek to do as we approach the 60th anniversary.