David Norris (Independent)

I support the general thrust of Senator Regan's amendment. If situations arise in the District Court where there may be a number of, or a couple of dozen, gardaí hanging around waiting to give evidence, that is not a proper management and use of manpower. It seems wasteful.

However, I would put in a caveat, that those persons present in court to present such evidence should be properly briefed. Sometimes it astonishes me, in looking at the way in which the District Court operates, that often there is no objection, not because there is nothing objectionable about the premises but because they have not bothered to find out. Where the garda might be asked is there an objection, he or she answers "No", but actually does not know whether there is. That situation might be made worse if the garda is from a completely different district, unless he or she is properly briefed and in possession of the correct information.

Probably the next amendment, which is in my name, addresses this situation. However, I have that worry. I accept that it is wasteful to have large numbers of gardaí hanging around just to make a formal acknowledgement, but it is not appropriate that they should be there in the absence of being able to contribute something substantial to the understanding of the matter before the court.