Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will certainly reflect on the comments Deputy Ó Ríordáin has made this evening and will feed them back into the Department and have conversations with colleagues there. I think we would all agree that no organisation or no part of society, as we know through our work on many issues, is immune to wrongdoing or discriminatory actions and the like. What is really important though is how an organisation responds when that happens. I was encouraged when the Paul Moody case took place. I will not comment on a specific case in the House but after that, in August 2022, the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, confirmed that An Garda Síochána would conduct a specific review following on from the case, primarily from that lessons learned perspective, and that he would report, where appropriate, to both me as Minister, and to the Policing Authority. I can tell the House this evening that this review is now at a very advanced stage and once it has been completed the Commissioner intends to provide it to both myself and to the Policing Authority. I am very much looking forward - if that is the right phrase - to receiving this report because it is an important piece of work in trying to provide that assurance the Deputy and I are seeking but also in trying to make sure that any lessons that need to be learned, for what of a better phrase, can be learned quickly and to ensure that exactly what the Deputy is saying in undertaken within An Garda Síochána.

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