Mr. Drew Harris:

In respect of the protests in front of these premises, there are prosecutions pending so I feel I am somewhat restricted in what I might say. If we step aside from the actual ongoing prosecutions, we have a responsibility to allow Members to have access to these premises, as well as to facilitate process. We endeavour to facilitate protests and we see that all of the time but at a certain point we also have to ensure Members have free access to these buildings. That is one of our responsibilities.

In respect of the allegations made about private parts being touched, that was also attached to a certain sequence of events around clothing. That only happened at one particular Garda station. There is a recording and that recording has been retained. Fiosrú has mounted an investigation. The recording has been retained so there is the video and audio recording of the reception area, which also captures the corridor and what was being said can be heard quite clearly. It was all at a very calm level. There was no heightened emotion, conversation or alarm whatsoever. Everything was done in a very level sense. There were two members of An Garda Síochána present who gave me their account of this, which tallied with what I could see and what I could hear.