Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Looking at the existing human resources that are in place right now, there may be an option for some of those officers to transfer into a transport security force once it is established. There are options like that, which I am looking at to see whether that can accelerate the operation of it. We want to get it right. It is there to support An Garda Síochána. It will have comparable powers to the airport police and customs officers. There are things we have to work through with the Department of justice such as pursuit. In an airport campus, for example, the airport police deal with a very defined area. That is their catchment area. On a public transport network, be that a bus network, Luas or rail, it is not as defined. If someone does something and alights from a Luas in the city there are issues in relation to pursuit and arrest. Those legal matters need to be, and will be, worked through.