Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I shall speak on the section anyway. I am sorry that amendment No. 1 was not acceptable. The purpose of it was to bring our own policing operation up to the same standard as the Police Service of Northern Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, we have all been very keen to press home the importance of implementing the Patten recommendations and how significant they are in terms of policing in Northern Ireland, but we have not taken on board the fact that, as a result, the police service in Northern Ireland is a lot more modern than our own.

I know there are proposals for a police inspectorate a couple of years down the line. However, a number of NGOs, for example, have indicated that this would be inferior to a proper ombudsman. If we are to have North-South co-operation, it would be a good start to have common standards of control and accountability in relation to our police forces.

I am not really clear as to why amendment No. 1 is not in order. I would have thought it was relevant to the section, and I would appreciate any clarification on this.