That is not the issue.

The issue concerns the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission and whistleblowers.

I believe he could have handled the policing issue better and have said as much in other fora. In particular, he could have handled the GSOC controversy better. It is unfortunate that we had a drip-feed of information on what went on within it. I do not believe it was purely the Minister's fault, but it was unfortunate. It is welcome that we will have an independent review to be carried out by Mr. Justice Cooke. As colleagues will be aware, the terms of reference provide for the judge to take oral or other evidence; it is not simply a desktop review, as has been suggested. It is a tightly drawn review in terms of timing. This is welcome because we are all keen to see the review dealt with swiftly and clarity, in particular, on the sequence of events. The eight week timeframe is welcome.

Will it be debated in the House?

The Attorney General advised on it.

The Attorney General has advised on it. I would be glad to have a debate on the issue generally in the House, including the terms of reference for the independent review. I am unsure whether we would be better off in doing it when we have seen the independent review report or now. That is a matter I will take up with the Leader's office.

I wish to correct the record because some colleagues are a little unclear about the Garda Síochána Act 2005, under which the Minister inherited a rather flawed structure for the accountability of An Garda Síochána. Many of us were highly critical of the Act which was introduced by a previous Government under the then Minister, Mr. McDowell. In fact, it created a force that was accountable directly to the Minister. Someone suggested the force was accountable to the Legislature, but that is not correct. Senators should examine the provisions of the Act. One of the problems is that it creates too close a relationship between the Minister for Justice and Equality of the day and An Garda Síochána. I remember speaking in 2004 and 2005, as did many others, and contrasting the legislation with the PSNI reforms, as part of which there was a policing board linked directly between the political leadership and the operational leadership of the commissioner.

That makes sense.

That is the type of reform we need to consider. I am pleased that the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality has been asked to advise on changes to the Garda Síochána Act. We discussed the matter yesterday afternoon at our meeting and will be looking with urgency at necessary reforms of the provisions relating to GSOC. There was cross-party agreement on the need to consider broader reform of the Act to ensure greater accountability mechanisms. I am pleased that the Minister has already promised reform of GSOC by way of an amendment to enable a serving garda to make complaints to GSOC. This has been a clear flaw in GSOC. At the time it was set up, I was critical because it was clearly a weakened version of the structure in Northern Ireland with the tripartite model rather than a single person. Straightaway we were diluting authority. We will debate all of this at the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. There are many issues, many of which cannot be laid at the door of the Minister. This is a flawed structure and I am pleased that we will have an independent review of the allegations around bugging, which are serious.

Senator Darragh O'Brien should do good news more often because it suits him.

It is not easy.