Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)

It seems odd that when the objective of the legislation is to prevent crime and murder and tackle gangs, the most contentious point seems to be whether we give powers to the GSOC against gardaí. It takes away from the focus of the legislation which must be quite specific. I agree with the Minister's approach that perhaps it will be necessary to give this power to the GSOC in the future but now we should act to tackle the criminals, get those boys and girls into jail and provide the Garda and the courts with the evidentiary powers in the legislation. We should forget about the other matter for the moment and examine it in the future, as the Minister has stated.

See this speech in context