Dr. Cathal Berry:

I am in favour of the principle of powers of suspension to be granted to the Chief of Staff, just like the Garda Commissioner but the safeguards have to be in place to ensure the principles of natural justice and looking after the well-being of anyone who is suspended apply. That is my answer to that question.

I will comment on the figure of 12. If there is a rescue operation to be launched, bear in mind the crew of an Air Corps aircraft could be four or five so realistically there might only be five or six of them to actually do the job so it is completely restricted. It would be like telling the fire brigade we can only send 12 firefighters to put out a fire.

The Senator's very first question was about whether the triple lock dilutes Ireland's sovereignty. The triple lock is a type of mechanism that a colony would have to request permission from an outside power to conduct an activity. It is not the type of mechanism that a sovereign, independent, democratic state would have.