Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I had better be quick, in view of how clinical you are, Chairman, on the matter of time.

I welcome the fact that the Minister has embarked on a consultation process. Can he give us a sense of the timelines involved? How quickly will he start the consultation and how long will it last?

With regard to something that has interested me since the Government was formed, will the Green Paper address the reality that a Minister for Justice and Equality also holds the Defence portfolio?

Could that be explored as an issue in the Green Paper and the subsequent White Paper? Is there any other democracy where the person who is in control of the police force is also in control of the military? Are there any powers the Minister for Defence might normally hold of which the Minister has been divested by virtue of the fact he is also Minister for Justice and Equality?

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