The Minister referenced Coco's Law and the outreach subsequent to its introduction. She is right that it was not put into the legislation. She gave a commitment which she honoured in full. It has been extraordinary the number of contacts I have had even since, including invitations to be involved in seminars and online discussions with young people on it. That is really valuable. As I understand it, the difficulty the Minister has with the amendment is that is covers a public consultation and information campaign b…

It is not, because the Bill is to adjourn; it is not to conclude after 90 minutes.

That is what I am saying. We get as far as we can in 90 minutes.

I am aware of that.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 22, after line 38, to insert the following: “(5) Nothing in this section— (a) confers on a member of garda personnel a power that he or she does not otherwise have by virtue of another enactment or at common law, (b) authorises a member of garda personnel to exercise a power conferred by law for a purpose that is not so authorised.”. I understand that this was debated on Committee Stage. I am here in place of Deputy Ó Ríordáin, who cannot be here for family reasons. This section sets…

That is very helpful for my understanding of this. What we are trying to make clear is that vesting the Garda with a function does not mean that the powers of, say, surveillance or interception conferred in other enactments automatically become available to the member of An Garda Síochána in the performance of this particular function. For crystal clarity, there is security legislation and there are powers, for example, to deal with sabotage and so on available to An Garda Síochána specifically for that purpose, bu…

Yes, and to recommend changes.

I am happy.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 23, to delete line 6 and substitute the following: “(i) independently, impartially and in accordance with law,”. I understand there was some debate on Committee Stage between the then Minister, Deputy Harris, and Deputy Ó Ríordáin on this. It seems to me that it is self-evident that these words would be required. My understanding is that the Minister's answer at the time was that they are already implicit, but why not for the avoidance of doubt - we had this on a different issue - i…

Yes.

As the Minister rightly stated, we have rehearsed this previously. The position is that something that is self-evident does not need to be stated and that if it is stated, it needs to be replicated everywhere. I am not sure I agree with that. In a Bill as fundamentally important as this, to state that members will act "independently, impartially and in accordance with law" is obviously a clearly understood principle, but it should be a stated principle. Even if it is part of the attestation made by gardaí when they…

I move amendment No. 15: In page 42, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “(3) Where a person fails or refuses to comply with, or disobeys, a summons to attend or other direction under subsection (1) , the High Court may, on application by the appointed judge concerned and on notice to the person— (a) order the person to comply with the direction or, in the case of a summons, to attend before the appointed judge, and (b) make such other order (if any) as it considers necessary and just to enable the di…

I have rechecked this point because the then Minister, Deputy Harris, made that argument on Committee Stage to my colleague. I am empathically advised that because someone is a High Court judge does not mean that he or she has contempt of court powers unless he or she is sitting as a judge in a court with a court registrar in front of him or her. If the judge is sitting in a tribunal of inquiry or at Doheny & Nesbitt, he or she does not have compellability powers. That is the clear advice I have been given, but the…

I thank the Minister. For clarity, I take it that she does not envisage that such an inquiry would be a judicial inquiry, in other words, like a court in and of itself. It would change my perception if the Minister was saying that it would be a legal proceeding as a court and the judge was sitting as a judge in a court when determining these matters.

If the judge is not sitting as a judge and does not have a court registrar in front of him or her, my clear advice is that the judge does not have compellability powers. However, the Minister can check that and revert to us.

On the basis that the Minister will recheck the matter, I will withdraw the amendment.

I am glad to hear it.

Follow that.

In light of the very worrying trend of a continuing decline month on month in garda numbers, I ask the Minister to set out what the current operational strength is and what her projections are and to give that in detail in terms of new recruits, retirements, resignations and what the net figures will be or are likely to be over the next 18 months.

2015? The population has increased by 1 million since then.