Independent TD Clare Daly says the appearance of the Garda Commissioner at yesterday's Policing Authority meeting was "heavy on spin and light on detail".
She told Newstalk Breakfast that while she was impressed that the meeting had been held in public and indicated that the Police Authority was willing to flex its muscles, she felt the line of questioning had been weak.
“I didn’t expect them to go into details on personal cases, but they could have gone with tougher questions,” she said.
Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan appeared before the Policing Authority yesterday afternoon to face questions on the work being done to attend to whistleblowers and to change the culture in the force.
During the appearance, which lasted just over two hours, the head of the force would not be drawn on individual cases of whistleblowing but promised the long awaited publication of the public attitudes survey this Thursday.
She said while the policy in place is compliant with the law, ensuring those in the force feel confident to speak up will take time.
Ms Daly said a lot of the information given by the commissioner was already in the public domain and that she did not do enough to address the issues raised by the O’Higgins Report.
The public meeting, at the Kings Inns, Dublin, on Monday, focused on issues raised in the O’Higgins report – in particular, on services to victims, protected disclosures and culture in the force.
Mr Justice Kevin O’Higgins investigated allegations advanced by Garda whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe and found serious failures in policing.
In contrast to its tough line following a private meeting with the commissioner late last month, Monday’s public meeting was polite and relatively subdued.
The commissioner said a phone line will be established for Garda whistleblowers.
The commissioner has also issued an email, this week, to all 16,000 employees, outlining how they can make protected disclosures, the authority was told.
She said a protected disclosure manager had been appointed and a document on protected disclosure has been published, which outlines the mechanisms for Garda employees to make such disclosure.
