Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. I also want to respond to another point on whether we can believe any of the statistics being published. I want to make the point that I initiated action and met the Central Statistics Office to ensure the current crime statistics were more robust than they had been and the CSO has confirmed that they are. That work is ongoing but I want to make the point that the work has been done. It is important we are aware of that fact.

The Deputy asked whether a more root and branch reform of An Garda Síochána is necessary, as well as the changes that have already been implemented. I have said here tonight that I believe this is something we should consider and the Government announced it earlier today. I want to engage with Deputies in this House as to the exact form this should take. Clearly that will be a longer-term measure but it is extremely important at this stage, given the range of issues that have emerged. In the meantime, we must continue to address all the issues that have been addressed by the Garda Síochána Inspectorate that have emerged. Action is being taken on a whole range of issues. With the penalty points issue, for example, we now have a robust system in place that has objective verification and the numbers dealing with the issue have reduced. We must deal with each individual concern in this way to get to the bottom of what has actually been happening.

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