Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies. Of course we always reflect. It goes without saying that every member of the committee supports in full An Garda Síochána. I note Deputy Ó Ríordáín's comments and I do not in any way doubt anybody's bona fides on this. We live in a country where confidence in our police, in An Garda Síochána, is extraordinarily high relative to other countries. However we can never take this for granted. We only realise how important it is when it is lost and, sadly, we have seen that in other places. With regard to the communities and the concerns the Deputies are speaking to, we have put a number of provisions in the legislation with regard to policing principles on engagement with community and protecting and vindicating human rights. We may not fully agree on the wording but we are trying to address some of the point Deputy Ó Ríordáin is making. More for the record than anything else, I want to say my worry about the phrase "in accordance with the law" is that I have been legally advised that putting in such phrases can sometimes be unintentionally counter-productive because there are core legal principles and they can have the opposite effect. I will certainly reflect on what both Deputies have said.