Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There are some welcome developments in the Minister's reply. Whenever the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commissioners came before the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, not only did they talk about a protocol and exchanging information, but the gardaí were actually querying why the information sought was relevant. That was absolutely shocking. Can we imagine a garda investigating a crime being asked by the person being investigated why his questions were relevant? Would the force be happy about that? It is good that we have had some progress and I commend the Minister on pulling that together. Public confidence had to be restored in the ability of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to investigate quickly and efficiently complaints that had been brought to it.

There is a wider issue. At that time, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission published a series of recommendations following its special investigation and a report was sent to the Minister about five months ago. I would like to know what has happened to the recommendations in respect of the process for handling informants and the retention of contemporaneous notes, which are issues we should have learned from following the Morris tribunal.

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