Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill 2026: Committee Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-14 ============================================================ Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland I might just make one point. I do not believe, I am afraid, any suggestion that the cost of adjusting the computer occurred to the officials at this House without the Department raising it. I do not believe that. I am not a child. I am not a fool. If the Cathaoirleach and staff of this House by themselves said, "Oh my goodness. This could involve a change to the computer system which might cost money", we would have big trouble in this House. The truth is as I articulated earlier, that the Department made the point that it would have to change its computer system and this House then acted on foot of that representation. The Minister may say it was not pressurised. If that is the point that was made----- --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:57+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-14