Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Ampersand report was very welcome. It made a number of recommendations. I believe it was welcomed by the organisation, the Garda Commissioner and everybody else who has seen it. My understanding is that the timeline for its implementation runs to 2025, so there is obviously some way to go. The Commissioner has taken a personal interest in this matter and has recently received an update on how the recommendations are being implemented. It is not that I simply do not want to intervene but that I do not believe I should and that it is not my role to do so. This is an independent association. It has its own elected representatives and members. It is important that I, as Minister, do not interfere in the organisation. My role is to support it through the provision of financial support, policy and legislation and to engage with it on matters that are important to it. That is the work I do. The internal mechanisms are very much a matter for the association.

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