Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

The Minister is aware of the views of the Garda Representative Association. It is interesting that that group is not anxious to have gardaí investigating gardaí, and it has made that quite clear. In cases where the commission would ask a garda to investigate a situation, the decision would be made by the three person ombudsman commission. It would not be made by the investigating garda. In such cases, the garda would investigate the case, prepare information and make a detailed submission which would go to the commission for a decision. This should be pointed out.

I can see the difficulty in getting experienced people if the Minister has to recruit hundreds of people to carry out this job. Training would be required which would have to be separate from Garda training. A complete new structure would need to be established. I can understand the practicalities of the situation. The commission may decide not to get a member of the Garda to investigate a particular case, it may decide to get the Garda Commissioner, an Assistant Commissioner, chief superintendent or superintendent. It is also open to the commission to get somebody from Northern Ireland or from outside the State to carry out an investigation. There is ample flexibility in the system. However, it cannot be ruled out that the commission would not call on a member of the Garda from a different region to prepare a report on a situation. That person would not have the final say on the case, which is important. I look forward to the officials having further discussions with the Garda Representative Association, although I doubt very much if they would have any influence at this point.