David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Commissioner states the matter has been referred to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. It is not appropriate, therefore, for us to comment on it and he is correct that he is not in a position to do so either. We noted that his previous correspondence contained a mistake that everyone accepts was inadvertent because he was not given prior notice of the issue and may not have been apprised of the details. It was helpful of him, therefore, to write to the committee.

He seems to express some concern about our discussion that followed. Perhaps he does not know how the committee works but if we receive an item of correspondence, it has to be noted and can be discussed. The only reason it was discussed was it was a correction of something that had been said. Further information was sought and the clerk to the committee has followed up in that regard. One such piece of information was the exit surveys that are done if somebody leaves the Garda. We wondered whether there had emerged among Garda stations a pattern of reasons for leaving. In one station, anecdotally at least, there seemed to be a suggestion of bullying and similar issues. While we cannot say that was the case, we asked for a flavour of what was coming up in the exit surveys. We do not want individuals' names or other details. The Garda indicated that it does that type of work in any event. I think Mr. Nugent responded to us on the matter. We should follow up and keep an eye on it, and I hope we will receive a response in due course.