Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

I am not saying I do not have any confidence. I am an optimist by nature. I welcome the Minister's statement this morning. The Minister has a strong record in the area of human rights and I hope we can deliver on this. Confidence requires a timeline for implementation. It would be unfair and disingenuous of me to state that I have confidence until such time as I see the timeline and the staggered implementation of the recommendations. I can say I am conscious of the fact and reassured that the Minister has moved very quickly to deal with this but I welcome it as first step. The first step is we have the implementation plan. I will state I have absolute confidence when the recommendations are implemented or there is significant progress in the implementation. As I have also said, members of An Garda Síochána have indicated they will implement them as soon as possible, but actions speak louder than words and this is something of which we should not lose sight.