Garda Commissioner

You're gone, muchacho.

I just wonder, at this juncture, I know we spoke to the confidence of our own government and the Garda Commissioner the last day, but they were still speaking in light of the fact that the DPP had come back and directed no charges against Christy Kinahan.

So I just wonder at this stage, other than, as you say, the American sanctions, what really is hanging over this man's head, other than he has been uprooted from his comfort zone in Dubai? We don't know of any known criminal charges that are against him other than this particular U.S.

sanction, which was imposed all the way back in April of 2022.

I was in Dubai a few years ago.

I actually, Drew Harris, the Garda Commissioner at the time, just happened to be out there at that time.

And I actually interviewed him out there.

And he said to me that the gang was worth 1 billion euros.

The Minister of State with responsibility for road safety is Sean Cannie.

He's calling the meeting, which will be attended by the likes of Transport Infrastructure Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, Department of Transportation, justice officials, as well as the Garda Commissioner.

Uh, Cannie says he wants the meeting to examine the measures that could alert motorists and gardaí when a car is going down the wrong way.

Uh, some of the quotes here he has given us would give you pause for thought.

And again, I say, you know, independence is key to that because, you know, there's no point in correcting your own homework when it's something as serious as this.

I saw that the Garda Commissioner was reported in the Sunday Times as talking about some form of external investigation.

Would that be enough?

Well, I am sure that the people who provide representation, such as the GRE and AGSI, have made this call based on what they feel is necessary at this time.

Initially, he was chosen as the person who should come in to assess the risks identified in these disclosures regarding the disposal of Garda Ordinance.

The whistleblower's office was met with interference from the Garda Commissioner himself.

I received a call to say that the commissioner wanted to meet me and the other Protected Disclosures manager.

So we brought Donald Corcoran, the Protected Disclosures facilitator with us.

Not at all.

No, the Garda Commissioner is a regular visitor and has been with before us on a number of occasions and senior Garda management come before the committee.

We had them in this week dealing with issues around Garda pursuits.

But this is fundamentally a fundamental question that needs to be asked because Ultimately, what we have in on Garda Síochána is a police service that the vast majority of our citizens have confidence in and have faith in.

Well, I think if the Garda budget... is increased because you can't create a specific fund within the Department of Justice for CCTV in Limerick because you'll set a precedent and that's not viable.

But what you can actually do is you can increase the Garda budget and effectively the Garda Commissioner can fund this from an increase in the Garda budget through the Garda Commission.

with the council digital services department actually responsible for, say, the operation of the system.

And that is effectively the blueprint that the council and others, including myself, have gone to the Minister and gone to the Department of Justice with.