Mr. Brendan O'Connor:

I thank the Deputy. I will try to address that. The Deputy has outlined the benefits and those are exactly the circumstances where we feel our members could rely on and present better evidence. It will also bring a level of transparency and accountability to our members. We have nothing to fear. This will give confidence to those people who have doubts about how gardaí conduct their duties, and particularly in communities where relations can be improved and where there may be a perceived mistrust among some parties.

The Deputy asked when the cameras would be switched on. Obviously, again we come back to the protocol. We must be mindful of citizens' right to privacy and when it is appropriate to record. Generally, we would probably expect to see this being used in situations that are confrontational. A tourist approaching a garda on O'Connell Street looking for directions is not going to want to have his or her image or audio recorded. That would be inappropriate. There are other such circumstances, for example, with a victim of sexual assault or a person seeking advice from a garda on a personal issue. It would not be appropriate to record those interactions. This is where we will find guidance in the protocol. These systems are tried and tested in other jurisdictions and hopefully the protocol will reflect what has been learned.

Reference was made to gathering evidence at crime scenes. One of the big success stories from the perspective of victims is in relation to domestic violence. We are all well versed that there has been an increase in domestic violence. I believe it is more likely for a person to be a victim of homicide in domestic circumstances than in any other circumstances. This seems to be the case across the world. In our experience, one could go to the same location time after time and witness a vulnerable person being the victim of an assault or violence on repeated occasions and never having the confidence to make that statement to outline what happened, or where perhaps making the statement can revisit the trauma. When a police officer is on the scene who has a recording of the trauma and how the person was reacting, it can gather the aggression and the attitude of the offender or suspect.

It creates an excellent piece of evidence and allows a jury or a judge to see what the victim was subjected to. The benefits are huge for victims of crime and also in terms of efficiencies within the criminal justice system. There has been an emphasis and focus within the organisation on training so that we can provide a more effective response to domestic violence. This is a key part of that strategy and we would see it as bringing huge benefits for victims, particularly victims of domestic violence.