Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

No, I emphatically do not — that is the short answer. I am amazed to hear Deputy Jim O'Keeffe say, having espoused the notion of an independent Garda authority, that he does not yet know whether elected public representatives would be part of such an authority or in what numbers. This is astonishing. The Deputy has obviously not even consulted with those in the Labour Party who were the real ones to draw up this policy to discover what they have in mind.

I make this point strongly. The transformation taking place in the Garda Síochána is a major revolution in accountability.

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