Key proposals in the Policing Commission report involving a dilution in the role of the Policing Authority will “concentrate power” in the hands of Government and Garda management, a leading policing expert has said.

Two members of the Policing Commission have publicly voiced their opposition to a key recommendation for an internal Garda body to take over many external oversight powers.

There is a “desperate need” for laws to give suspects in custody the legal right to have a solicitor present for garda interviews, a leading academic has said.

Your lunchtime news bulletin.

An Garda Síochána’s credibility has suffered another blow after the CSO decided for a second time not to publish Garda crime statistics.

The association representing families of homicide victims said it was “very concerned” at the revelation that 89 homicide offences have not been recorded on official crime statistics.

Almost 90 homicides over a 14-year period have not been included in CSO crime statistics because of Garda failings in recording them.

There can be little doubting the credentials of many of those on the new policing commission.

A 24-hour dedicated phoneline for the reporting of child sexual abuse, both current and historic, is being launched today.

Senior gardaí said it was frustrating that only one side of the story in the current whistleblower controversy had so far been aired and welcomed the opportunity for a full hearing before the forthcoming Charleton public inquiry.

The Garda Commissioner yesterday said she has written to the Government calling for the “immediate appointment” of 46 senior officers — saying that the continuing vacancies posed “profound risks” to policing and security services.

A continuing failure to keep some victims of crime informed about their investigations was described as “quite disconcerting” at yesterday’s Policing Authority meeting with the Garda Commissioner.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has said the board members of the new Policing Authority were of the “highest calibre”, after claims they were political appointees.

TANÁISTE Joan Burton has accused opposition parties of being trigger-happy in seeking commissions of inquiry ‘into anything and everything.’

The Government has “watered down” its initial proposals for an independent Policing Authority, including the removal of specific provisions making the commissioner accountable to it, according to a legal expert.

For movie fans, 2015 is the year Marty McFly came Back to the Future again, but, thanks to modern technology another time traveller has come from a more distant past — and is tweeting about when he founded The Cork Examiner.

POLICE corruption will be one of the issues high on the agenda when delegates from forces around the world gather in Limerick today to share their experiences and methods in tacking crime.

CHILDCARE costs, the Irish Mammy and Bunreacht na hÉireann (the Irish Constitution).