Mr. Drew Harris:

The model we had was not working. We had inconsistent service delivery across the country. Superintendents were increasingly drawn into pretty complex administrative processes, as human resources, finances and other administration have got more and more complex. What we have done is to free up superintendents in particular. Chief superintendents are running the whole thing, so they do have a responsibility for the administrative function as well. We freed them up. We increased the number of inspectors and sergeants. In 2018 and 2019, when I was touring around the country in the late evening and the small hours of the morning, one would not find an inspector on duty. That was prevalent throughout the country. It was rare to find an inspector on duty. We did not have the roll-out of the DPSUs. The cybercrime assistance was based in Dublin. We had 96 administrative units headed by a superintendent who ran the district. There was a huge amount of wastage and bureaucracy in that. This was an effort to streamline it. A lot of the positives in the current operating model are assumed to be baked in. There are things people are not happy with. We had expected to easily have been at 15,200 members by now with the operating model, but Covid and then our recruitment processes thereafter intervened and that ambition was not realised. But it will be realised in full. The recruitment is mandated by the Government and we have support for it.