Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 8 February 2024

Public Accounts Committee

Financial Statements 2022 - Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission

9:30 am

Mr. Peter Whelan:

We have heard the new Act is to come into effect 1 July, so we have to be ready for that date. There is a huge amount of work at the moment. It is absorbing a huge amount of people's time within the organisation, but we are trying to aim to be as ready as we can be for that date.

To finish my response to the previous question, the one other big change is the definition of death or serious harm. If we get a referral of death or serious harm, we shall investigate – we do not have a choice. We got 41 in 2022 from the Commissioner. That definition is expanded now to include sexual offences and the abuse of power for sexual gain. That could bring in a whole new number of complaints that have to be investigated. They are normally very complex and lengthy investigations.

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