Mr. Drew Harris:

I will address the second point first. I will give that commitment. We are a national organisation that provides a national service. If people apply for a transfer, obviously, they need a vacant post to transfer to but that is often the only impediment to individuals moving between divisions. There is no bar to that. It requires an organisational need as well.

In respect of the superintendents, I reiterate that we are not building new super-headquarters. Our infrastructure will not permit all the superintendents to be in one building so no matter what I say, unless they are all going to sit out in the backyard, they will not all be in the one building. We do not have the space or the estate to do that. I am also fearful because things happen through osmosis despite grand plans but I have no intention of seeing superintendents gradually drift into divisional headquarters. Superintendents will be out and visible, not only to their staff but to their local communities. I can give the Deputy an absolute assurance about that.

We are taking a long look at where we situate divisional headquarters. We have consulted with the regional assistant commissioners and chief superintendents and we are taking a range of factors into account. We have to have divisional headquarters where chief superintendents will be based but all of these things are entirely consistent with superintendents being diffused throughout the division. If I may use the example of Mayo, which is a pilot, superintendents have remained spread throughout that county so we have had a community engagement superintendent based in Claremorris and Ballina, while the divisional headquarters have been in Castlebar. That is the model we applied in Galway as well and is the model we will apply in these rural divisions. We want the superintendents to be out and about, not all situated in one divisional headquarters. I can give the Deputy an absolute assurance of that.