Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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46. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the steps he will take to improve the operation of the GSOC with particular reference to the problems they identified in their annual report 2012 and the fact that no names were mentioned in the investigation (details supplied). [28223/13]

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I arranged to meet the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission in May to discuss concerns they raised in their 2012 Annual Report regarding delays in concluding their investigations, and in particular delays in receiving requested information from the Garda Síochána. The Ombudsman Commission separately raised concerns regarding Garda response times in the context of their recent public interest report which dealt with the handling of covert human intelligence sources by the Garda Síochána, and which naturally, given the nature of the report, protected the identities of individuals.

The Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides for protocols on the sharing of information between the Garda Síochána and the Garda Ombudsman Commission. These protocols set down time limits for the provision of information by the Garda Síochána to the Ombudsman Commission, and it is clearly important that any such agreed protocols should be respected, and that any difficulties in this regard should be addressed.

As I have previously indicated, I have asked the Garda Commissioner for his observations on the concerns expressed by the Garda Ombudsman Commission, and I then intend to convene a meeting with the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Ombudsman Commission to make sure that any outstanding issues have been resolved.