Mr. Simon O?Brien:

It is clear from other jurisdictions, especially those that occupy the islands in this part of the globe, that their chief police officers would be amenable to oversight by a body such as ours. We believe it is a matter that should be progressed, certainly in terms of moving the agenda forward and describing what functions we would be able to investigate. We have already talked about State security issues so we would have to have some definition in that regard. On the command and control of the organisation, there would be some delineation. Certainly, as far as we are concerned at present, the definition of a member of the Garda Síochána does not include the Commissioner. We believe it should. On addressing this, we could determine what complaints we would be dealing with according to our new remit.