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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: What did he think and what action, if any, did he take when he became aware of it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: What about the contents of the transcript?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: It shone a light into an area of dysfunction.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: In Mr. Purcell's conversations with Mr. Connolly on the transcript, did he deny any of the contents or details of the transcript?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: He did not deny the contents of it and he was more concerned about the fact that the conversation was recorded than by the substance of what was said. That is effectively what Mr. Purcell is saying.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: Did this not set off alarm bells for Mr. Purcell? As Secretary General of the Department, when all this was being reported in the media and then this explosive transcript became known, can I be forgiven for thinking there was complete disregard and inertia? He may have thought Maurice McCabe dreamed up the entire conversation. From what he is telling us, Oliver Connolly did not deny anything.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: Did it not dawn on Mr. Purcell this was a symptom of a wider problem?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: I thank our visitors for attending here today. Does Mr. Purcell appreciate that the position he has taken here today in respect of the answering of questions amounts to obstruction of the work of the Oireachtas and this committee?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: Mr. Purcell cited parallel inquiries. There are many examples in society where organs of the State carry out parallel inquiries. One could have the Revenue Commissioners and the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement or one could have the Garda and the Revenue Commissioners carrying out parallel inquiries. The position Mr. Purcell is taking today is not sustainable or credible...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: Is Mr. Purcell aware of any such incidents?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: What we and the public find difficult to understand is why we cannot be told the truth because the truth in whatever fashion or manner it takes, unvarnished and all, is the truth. Nobody is asking Mr. Purcell to deviate from that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: My line of questioning is not implying that Mr. Purcell is telling anything but the truth.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: I have a couple of questions. We are all waiting in line. In arriving at the position he is maintaining here regarding what he is prepared to answer and what he is not prepared to answer, did Mr. Purcell consult, take advice from or correspond with the Taoiseach, his own Secretary General, Martin Fraser, or any officials within the Department of the Taoiseach?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Guerin Report: Department of Justice and Equality (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: I ask the same question in respect of the new Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: Is Ms O'Sullivan suggesting, as part of the review, any new grades?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: New grades in the structure.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: A final question. At any time since Ms O'Sullivan has taken up the position of acting Garda Commissioner or in her role in the latter weeks and months of her predecessor, Commissioner Martin Callinan, did any member of the senior management telephone, write to or communicate with Sergeant Maurice McCabe to tell him he is a valuable member of the force, a valuable employee and that the force...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: I thank our visitors for their engagement, which is very enlightening. As previous speakers said, we have had hearings attended by other groups. I would like to ask the visitors for their views on the thoughts of, and presentations given, by previous groups. I would like to ask Baroness O'Loan a question. Before GSOC's attendance at this committee, it made a number of public...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: From her experience as the Ombudsman in Northern Ireland and her knowledge of GSOC, what is her opinion on the resourcing of GSOC given the relative size of An Garda Síochána? In other words, how well resourced was her office in terms of the complement or size of the PSNI as against the resourcing of GSOC and the capacity it has to do its job in the context of the size An Garda...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Garda Oversight: Discussion (Resumed) (28 May 2014)

Niall Collins: I thank Baroness O'Loan. I would like to ask the senior members of An Garda Síochána a couple of questions. I am not asking them for their personal opinions but for their collective view as a management team. I refer to the establishment of the independent policing authority. I am asking them about this because we all have an open mind on it, we are on a journey and we are...