Dr. Cian Ó Concubhair:

That is obviously a problem, as I have stated. This issue has come up informally. As an academic, it is very difficult to do research on An Garda Síochána in comparison with the UK. It is very difficult to get access but I have spoken informally to many gardaí over the years about this. I have spoken to many defence and prosecution barristers as well. Outside of the Dublin metropolitan region, gardaí do not have stop and search powers under the Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Act 2001. If a garda legitimately suspects someone of engaging in theft or fraud he or she cannot search the person under that Act. What people have told me, consistently, is that gardaí will resort to drug search powers. Whatever the merits or legitimacy of trying to search that person, that is an unlawful search. The Garda Inspectorate has recognised that. It has identified potentially significant unlawful use of drug search powers in the Irish context. I do not think there is any reason to believe we would be any different in an Irish context from the UK or Scotland, where overuse of those powers was even more pronounced. We just do not have the data. Anecdotally, as Deputy Ward stated, in certain communities these powers are deployed extensively on the community and often with little basis for the use of those powers.