Baroness Nuala O'Loan:

My experience would suggest to me that they carry out completely different functions. While I would anticipate the Garda Síochána Inspectorate would have a programme of rolling investigation of current policies, practices, training resources, use of resources and so on and would report on each investigation it does, GSOC has a completely different function, which is to investigate allegations of misconduct. From allegations of misconduct, there always arise questions on management, training, supervision and that sort of thing. In the North, we had a power to conduct policy and practice investigations of our own initiative without the consent of the Minister. We would gather together the information and where we became aware of a trend of problems, perhaps about management, about securing evidence or about dealing with minorities, we would then conduct a policy and practice investigation and publish the results of that investigation on the website. That is an enormously important contribution to the efficiency of policing. It derives from the investigation of complaints and for GSOC to then hand that to the inspectorate to conduct these focused investigations would require the inspectorate to go back to the beginning. That, therefore, would require, if one likes, a duplication of some of the work that already has been done by GSOC.

I would retain the current structure of GSOC and the Garda Síochána Inspectorate.