Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is progress in the way the Garda is deploying and impacting on serious crimes affecting people. It is important to recognise the strengths and weaknesses that have been exposed. I am convinced of the approach of establishing a commission and making sure it has the right make up, in other words that its membership is drawn from those areas which will maximise its impact on the future of policing and, at the same time, that it recognises the success of some of the instruments of accountability and oversight we have put in place, and which Deputy Howlin has been party to, such as the establishment of the whistleblowers Act. We have a base on which to work and the Government regards this as a very high priority. The Tánaiste will revert when she has taken substantial hearings about the concerns that need to be met in drawing up the final terms of reference and presenting them to the Government and the Dáil.

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