Mr. Derek Priestley:

Absolutely, and we would not be in any way familiar with that or prone to talk about it. It is more the idea that in a criminal investigation where there are concerns about an individual, that a member of An Garda Síochána can legitimately pick up the phone to share information with the provost marshal, so it can be shared with the chain of command and an appropriate decision can be made.

We would have concerns at the moment about at what point that might happen. The Garda code says that if someone has been arrested or charged, an assistant provost marshal should be informed. Whether that happens or not, I would say, is down to local connections. In my experience when I was first appointed as an assistant provost marshal, it took me quite a while to build up local contacts with An Garda Síochána such that I would be trusted. However, the ability to formally share information is dubious as it currently stands and that is the only point we are making.