Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand that but it still does not take away from this fact and it is what we must clarify today. Similar statements were sent to Galway and Cork. The Taoiseach told the Dáil this morning there is funding for overtime in December. He was keen to understand yesterday's public announcement a bit better. Does the Minister have any understanding of how this announcement came to be made? It is astonishing that the assistant commissioner would make such a statement and if there was enough money available, it should not be the case that the message would be sent around. It raised alarm bells right across the country and people became deeply concerned. Was the Department aware such a message was being sent to members of the force and was the assistant commissioner aware the Supplementary Estimate is due before the committee tomorrow? If not, why was that the case?

This leads to the level of joined-up thinking that exists between Garda management, which is charged with managing the budget, and the Department, which holds the purse strings. It is outrageous that Garda management would not know how much money it had or what was being made available to fund overtime. There was real fear right across the country when this was reported. I understand there was a misunderstanding as the budget was due to be renewed in December but nevertheless this is the message that was sent around. Either way, December is the busiest month of the year and gardaí need to operate at full force. The message sent the wrong signal to criminals and communities across the country. I would appreciate the Minister providing some answers in this respect.