Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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First, the meeting was held in private at Sergeant's McCabe's request. Second, under the Standing Orders of the House the Editor of Debates cannot produce a redacted transcript. We were told by our legal adviser following the private meeting that certain elements of the evidence would need to be redacted. Third, an independent Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission investigation is under way.

The remit of this committee is relevant. The whistleblower provided information to the Comptroller and Auditor General, who then conducted an investigation in terms of penalty points of the overall PULSE system. We are to produce a report on this particular chapter of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. As part of that process, we met Sergeant McCabe in private, as requested by him. The information provided at that meeting will feed into the report which the committee will produce. That is the work of this committee. Ultimately, our job is to prepare a report based on all the evidence put before us, including the Comptroller and Auditor General's report, evidence from the Garda Commissioner and his colleagues and the evidence of Sergeant McCabe during the private meeting. Taking all factors into account and the overall legal ramifications involved, the committee made its decision last week. One can complicate this all one likes, but fundamentally the meeting was held in private at the witness's request and we cannot release a redacted transcript of his evidence because the Editor of Debates cannot do so. The legal advice we received was that elements of the evidence needed to be redacted. Therefore, there would be major legal implications to our releasing the transcript.

This committee must produce a report. The evidence provided to us by Sergeant McCabe will feed into that report. It is our job to ensure proper use of public funds. That is the reason we took the decision we did last week as a committee.