Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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The reply goes into some detail. I was a member of the Committee of Public Accounts when it had a lot of debate about Templemore. The correspondence states that the matter was originally referred to GSOC by the then Garda Commissioner, Nóirín O'Sullivan, in June 2017. That is a six-year time lag. It is incredibly frustrating that it has taken so long for GSOC to conclude the matter. There was a public interest in this matter as well as a criminal investigation. This was one of the stand-out pieces we did in the previous Committee of Public Accounts. We should write to the chair of GSOC and ask to be furnished with a copy of the public interest report. I do not think that has any bearing on the matter. Even it is redacted, we need to ask for it. GSOC would presumably have completed that.

If the DPP decides not to prosecute, obviously that is an area where we do not have a remit - once it goes to the DPP. The DPP will make a decision on that but it is taking a very long time. This relates to EU funds. My concern is that this has gone on for so long and the longer something goes on the more difficult it is to make a decision on a prosecution of something. As we cannot continue to follow on, it feels as if nothing can happen because of the length of time. We have to accept that when something falls under the criminal code, it is not for us but when something goes on for that length of time, you have to ask whether the resources are being put into it to allow it to reach the conclusion it should reach in a timely way and whether you are giving it a fighting chance of prosecution.