James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Very good. We heard from the Hope and Courage Collective, and I have heard the same from my work on the ground, that there have been times when concerned members of the community who have put their hands up to warn of trouble or that something will kick off because an issue is festering somewhere have found it difficult to get through to a relevant person in the Garda. We speculated in the earlier session that an approach could be taken at headquarters or senior level. I appreciate there is a degree of sophistication as to how we monitor events that may be about to unfold but is there a protocol in place? Is that understood fully at every station level in the event that someone phones? Dr. Coxon mentioned a confidential helpline. It is useful to have that number but I have been told that people do not know what to do when they have contacted a local station. I am not saying this about any particular station in the country. I have heard from different places that the garda in charge was very busy or was dealing with other matters and did not have time to devote to the issue. I am not saying gardaí were dismissive but they may not have entertained it to the extent that the complainant had hoped. These concerned individuals could be a great asset to the Garda in terms of taking that feedback or concerns ahead of time and picking up some leads from them. Does that message need to be distributed throughout the organisation as a policy statement or working direction? How is it working at the moment?