Garda chief defends plans to set up authority

Acting Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan has defended plans to set up a Garda authority and said it will add additional trust between the public and the force.

In a clear reference to whistleblowers, the head of the force also signalled that gardaí had missed messages in the past.

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Donegal, she said the garda commissioner would be accountable to the new authority which in turn would report to the Oireachtas and Government.