Ms Helen Hall:

Yes, to some extent. Workforce planning, certainly, is central to the work we do. The running of the senior grade competitions is our responsibility, so we must constantly have an eye on this issue. One of the concerns the Vice Chair might be alluding to is that this time next year seven of the eight current assistant commissioners will no longer be in place. We are very much aware of this issue and a competition is ongoing to fill these posts. Therefore, we are aware of this issue in respect of the competitions we are responsible for. We also approve the numbers of Garda staff and make the senior appointments. If the Vice Chair looks back at some of our reports, she will see that workforce planning has been an issue we have been like a scratched record on. I refer to getting workforce planning details from An Garda Síochána. This subject again goes back to some of the systemic aspects, but progress is being made in this area and we await a current workforce plan.

Concerning things like discipline and suspensions, we do not get involved in the detail of individual cases. We would, however, want to see that such matters are being dealt with appropriately and independently and that they are being appropriately referred to GSOC. We do not want to see themes arising from complaints that might indicate the presence of systemic issues we should be following up on from an organisational oversight perspective. Therefore, we certainly would be cognisant of these matters.

On early retirements, we think this is common and we factor it in. One provision of the contractual arrangements of members of An Garda Síochána is that they can retire after 30 years' service, in contrast to those working in other sectors, and probably rightly so. This means that there are people who could continue to work until they are 60, but who choose to retire at 50 because they can. Personal choice comes into this context, but this arrangement has also always been a feature of the force. Those of us who have friends and family members in the force, or who know gardaí, know that some choose to go and have a different career, while others wish to continue their service up to the maximum permissible age. It is an aspect that must be factored in and it makes Garda workforce planning a little difficult, but no more than any other organisation facing issues with retirement dates.