Mr. Mark Toland:

There are three steps in that process. One is a board at a high level, which would include the Commissioner or a nominated deputy, plus the director of the Probation Service - a criminal justice board comprising the operational decision makers across Ireland.

Second, under that level we recommend each division has a criminal justice group which brings all the practitioners together. Therefore, we would have a senior representative from the courts, a senior prosecutor, the senior probation officer and the divisional chief superintendent. These people can then implement the policies of the criminal justice board. Their role is to get through the blockages, to get trials through the courts more quickly and to ensure victims receive better services.

We recommend that the Garda Síochána would have a criminal justice prosecutions unit. Therefore, if a prosecutor wanted to contact somebody about a case, he could contact the criminal justice prosecutions unit. Also, if a victim wanted to find out what was happening in regard to the case, there would be a central unit within that division to provide for that. There would be three tiers - criminal justice units, groups and boards to provide for a more seamless criminal justice system.