Mr. Mark Toland:

I would not like to answer on behalf of GSOC but I would say that in our submission, we acknowledged that the Commissioner intends in the long term to, hopefully, replace gardaí at the front counter of Garda stations with Garda staff to free up gardaí for patrol. Our comment is around reception of complaints and that a member of Garda staff would be able to receive complaints. We do not comment on the wider issue of where the Garda staff are employed and by whom. Our comment was to the effect that a member of Garda staff would be in a position to receive a complaint from a member of the public at the front counter of a station so that a police officer would not have to come back in and deal with that issue.

Along with the ICCL, we are responsible for making a recommendation about moving the prosecutorial function from the Garda Síochána to the Director of Public Prosecutions. We made that recommendation in 2015. It was very much about separating investigation from prosecution and freeing up Garda members who are fulfilling a role in courts. Most other jurisdictions have moved away from police officers prosecuting as well as investigating offences.