Mr. Drew Harris:

They are not irrelevant; they are very important as a local forum for accountability. They started after a number of reports. I could start in a number of places, but I will start with the inspector's report of 2014, which referred to the structure of the organisation and how it needed to change. That point was repeated by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland and the Policing Authority in its report, which also commented on the provision of the policing service and our responsiveness to changing demand.

The district model could not survive. There was far too much administration and bureaucracy and the packets of personnel were too small. We were not able to provide the specialist response required for some of the increasing demand, particularly around crimes against the vulnerable. Local specialisation can be created within bigger commands to deal with issues that are regrettably commonplace such as domestic abuse, serious sexual assault and child abuse. This is about enhancing the service to the local community and not having, in effect, an Eircode postcodes lottery in the provision of a policing service by An Garda Síochána.

We have spent a lot of money on administration and structures, which was money I did not have to spend on other things. I have described them as being a burden in delivering a policing function. I want to break free from that and focus more of our time and effort on the provision of a policing service. That is what this is about. One of the messages we will give to the JPCs is that we are a growing organisation, but are focusing that growth on community policing in local areas. We are taking out a tier of administration so that we can focus more of our resources on other areas. We are focusing on local accountability and delivery, which is the position of JPCs, and we will deliver a local policing plan. A lot of this is about trying to address the top-down direction of the organisation and giving people in the organisation autonomy to deal quickly with the situations they face and work closely with their partners. We want to include members of the JPCs in that process.