Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I share Senator Cummins's view that this measure is welcome. The Minister mentioned that the Labour Party raised this issue and I believe Senator Cummins raised the question of gardaí complaining to the ombudsman. He has made the same point again today.

Senator Cummins has pointed to a possible flaw in the provision. Although it gives statutory basis to the concept of whistleblowing, it is very indirect. While it allows for a charter and regulations to be drawn up, there is no explicit right for a garda to make a complaint or to report allegations of corruption. This amendment refers indirectly to the right but there is no explicit provision. I am not critical of the amendment but this area may need review because when the Minister looks at the regulations with the Garda Commissioner, the inspectorate and the ombudsman commission, he may have to consider the necessity for an explicit provision for a garda to make a complaint to the ombudsman commission, as Senator Cummins suggested.

I also want to make a political point. This sort of issue could have been teased out more if we had more time. If the Dáil had got the opportunity to debate these matters on Committee Stage, we would not have the problems the Minister identified in terms of how they were debated because the select committee would have had a different approach and debated the issues differently. In addition, I presumed the House would sit next week because we generally sit into the first week of July. There is no reason we could not have an extra week so that both Houses could examine the issue in more detail, particularly since the publication of the second Morris tribunal report.