Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have a question on policing. I am from Donegal where the Morris tribunal was focused and I remember hearing at the time and I have heard since in Dublin that the modus operandiof the Morris tribunal was to make sure it stayed as a Donegal problem and was seen as being a Donegal problem. At the same time, there were problems all over the country. The Department will obviously dispute that and that is fair enough but it has certainly been shown over the years that what has gone on in the Morris tribunal was evident all over the place and it seems to me there has been too close a linkage between the Department of Justice and Equality and the Garda. The Department seems to see itself and its role as some sort of guardian of the State. That will be a real problem for the Department in being open in the future so it will be interesting to see how that develops. Unfortunately, we will have to wait to see how it develops and how it works. Hopefully it will work. What are the changes in the day to day workings of the Department? What can we expect to see in the day to day workings of the Department in terms of that separation of the day to day management of the Garda by the Department or on what influence departmental officials had on the operation of the Garda? What can we look out for to reassure ourselves this is working?