Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Just for the record, the intention here is separating the governance of An Garda Síochána and the oversight of the organisation. There should be clear lines of responsibility between the different actors in the policing area. Under the current legislation, the Policing Authority has a role in approving the policing plan. This was removed in order to ensure that an oversight body had no role in the governance of a body that it had oversight responsibility for. The responsibility is now appropriately in place with the Garda board, which must adopt the annual service plan prior to its submission to the Minister. Considering that it is the board and the Minister that will have roles in relation to the approval of the plan, it is appropriate that they are both informed of any exceeding of resources as soon as possible.