Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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The report made for alarming and depressing reading. I accept that that was not their intention - certainly not the depressing part of it - because the report is solution-oriented. I merely refer to the failure to implement previous recommendations. I refer to the fixed-charge notice or penalty points report and the crime investigation report in which the Garda Inspectorate outlined a structure of a working group that would oversee the implementation of recommendations. For me, it is not an issue of Garda management; it is an issue for the Department of Justice and Equality. I note that in this most recent report the inspectorate recommends the Department should establish formal structured processes that co-ordinate all justice sector governance of the Garda Síochána and related activities, and obviously the new policing authority will have a role in that. The most important outcome for the committee on an all-party basis is to ensure that this is the last time the inspectorate publishes a report in which the recommendations are not implemented and that there is accountability. I would like them to define clearly, as they have done before in previous reports, their vision for a cast-iron oversight structure that ensures that the superb recommendations of the inspectorate are implemented. I am equally depressed and excited because I can see the potential for change here. One would have to be stupid not to see the potential for change in what the inspectorate has outlined. What would be an ideal cast-iron oversight structure based on international best practice - one that we could bring in to ensure we will not be back again in a few years' time having the same discussion?