Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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5. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality his views on whether the Charleton liaison committee should continue to be funded; and his further views on whether the liaison committee is working equally in the best interests of all gardaí involved in the disclosures tribunal. [44293/17]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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First of all let me say for the benefit of the Deputy that the Disclosures Tribunal was appointed following the passage of resolutions by this House and Seanad Éireann on 16 February 2017. Those resolutions require the Tribunal to report to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann with its findings and recommendations. Therefore, I do not propose to say or do anything which could be interpreted as impinging on its independence.

As the Deputy will be aware, it is the Garda Commissioner who has statutory responsibility to carry on and manage and control generally the administration and business of An Garda Síochána. Accordingly, the putting in place of internal structures to service the Tribunal is a matter for the Commissioner and I, as Minister, have no direct role in the matter. I do not believe that it would be proper for me as Minister to prescribe the approach which is taken by An Garda Síochána towards the Tribunal. Indeed, I would be open to criticism if I were to seek to influence how An Garda Síochána fulfil their duties to the Tribunal.

On a general note I would reiterate that the Government has been anxious to ensure that the Tribunal receives the greatest degree of assistance possible from all parties, not least An Garda Síochána. To that end the Government has been supportive of the former Commissioner, and continues to support the acting Commissioner in ensuring that the required resources are at the disposal of An Garda Síochána to service the Tribunal in a timely and effective manner. I am advised that the services of two retired senior members of An Garda Síochána were engaged initially for a period of six months and then for a further period of three months to 30 November 2017 in accordance with the formal sanction.

I am informed that the work of these two retired members supports the Disclosure Tribunal Co-Ordination Office which is staffed by one full-time member, seconded temporarily from the Office of Corporate Communications. A number of additional personnel are also facilitating the work of this office on an ad hoc basis as requirements dictate. I am further informed that liaison persons have been nominated from relevant sections/Regions to deal with specific requests from the Tribunal. Funding for the Co-Ordination Office is met from within the Garda Vote.

I would reiterate that the provision of these additional resources is to ensure that An Garda Síochána as an organisation is able to cooperate with the Tribunal to the fullest extent, without unduly affecting the ability of the organisation to continue to carry out its normal vital work. That said, there is nothing in the arrangements put in place by the Commissioner to prevent, nor could they, the right of any individual member of An Garda Síochána to make any representations they see fit, relevant to its terms of reference, directly to the Tribunal. This includes any complaint by any member of An Garda Síochána about the arrangements in place for their representation at the Tribunal. Any matters relating to representation before the Tribunal will of course ultimately be decided by the Tribunal itself.