Justice Minister Says Decisions On New Garda Authority Not Made Yet

Justice minister says decisions on new garda authority not made yet

The Justice Minister has admitted that she does not know who will run the new independent garda authority. Frances Fitzgerald says she does not know whether the authority will be appointed by the government, outsiders, or by gardaí themselves. She was speaking after the former minister Michael McDowell criticised the plans, which he said would make the force less democratic. The current minister admits there are still many questions she does not have answers to. "Who should the members be? Some people would argue for a representative body - should it be expertise, should it be representative?" she said. "These are the very serious questions that we are working on at present - and the detail is not out there for the very simple reason that those are the issues that we are examining and why we're looking at international best practice" she added.