Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have a couple of questions that are open to any of the witnesses who would like to respond. By way of opening comment, I get the sense the witnesses believe there has been a lack of engagement around this legislation that we might discuss further later on.

Following on from the presentations made today, is it fair to say the witnesses' sense of the proposed legislation is that members of the public and, perhaps, suspects who are under investigation for a crime would enjoy better protections than rank and file gardaí or the force if under investigation under the proposed new body?

My second question is in regard to GSOC and has already been alluded to. Does anybody know why the GSOC process in terms of the outcome of cases takes so long? Is there a breach of the right to fair trial around this? As alluded to by Ms Cunningham, cases can go on for years and members are left hanging in that no man's land. Are there regulations around that? As I mentioned earlier, I sense annoyance from almost all of the witnesses here today in regard to this legislation. In terms of the formulation of legislation and the lack of engagement, is it normal they would not be consulted? What is the normal procedure in that regard? As I said, the questions are to all of the witnesses.