Mr. Donncha Ó Súilleabháin:

There are two aspects to this. There is the Official Languages Act 2003 itself. The monitoring and accountability mechanisms under the Act are not mediated through the Department insofar as the other designated bodies are concerned. Whether it is the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht or an Coimisinéir Teanga, those oversight bodies, to the extent they have an oversight role in these areas, deal directly with An Garda Síochána. I understand there has been a good deal of interaction with an Coimisinéir Teanga about the availability of an Irish language service, especially in Gaeltacht areas.

I do not want to be unhelpful to the committee but the Garda Commissioner runs the Garda. There is an oversight structure set out in legislation, in which the Policing Authority plays a central role. The Minister still has reserved functions and approves priorities and strategic plans and so on, but the day-to-day management of deployment is-----