Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)

Obviously, there were unusual aspects to the appointment of the previous Commissioner because he was from outside An Garda Síochána. He came externally and, obviously, issues arise in respect of that. However, I went back and looked at some of the coverage of the new Commissioner’s appointment. On 13 December 2017, The Irish Times reported, “The Government may pay the accommodation costs and education fees for dependent children if an international candidate is selected for the role of Garda Commissioner.” It was obviously envisaged at the time that if someone were going to be appointed to the job of Garda Commissioner from outside of Ireland, accommodation costs would have to be paid in respect of that individual. That situation arose. As I said, the information should have been provided to the Deputy in respect of the rent that was paid on the former Commissioner's behalf by An Garda Síochána. That should have been provided to the Deputy previously.

As for any other costs, aside from the payments the former Commissioner received which I have already provided to the Deputy, namely, the rent and property and the other financial costs associated with expenditure on doing up the house for security reasons, I am not aware of any other expenditure or extra package that was available to that Commissioner.

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