The Minister for Justice has conceded that it is “not ideal” that a senior garda role is being filled on a temporary basis because there have been no internal applicants.
Helen McEntee confirmed that the role of Deputy Commissioner for Policing and Security will be filled by another Deputy Commissioner, Shawna Coxon, who is currently in charge of strategy, governance and performance.
Ms McEntee conceded that the two roles would involve a huge amount of work, but she said Ms Coxon would be ably assisted by a number of assistant commissioners.
The minster said she wanted to see the position filled as soon as possible but the competition would not be held until a pension issue is resolved.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath is reviewing the tax position for senior public servants who pay a higher rate of tax on their pensions above a certain threshold.
Ms McEntee said that would be done by the summer.
She rejected a suggestion from Independent TD Cathal Berry that it was “far from ideal” that sensitive security information should be given to a non-Irish individual.
Ms Coxon is a Canadian Citizen.
The minister said she would never agree to anything that would jeopardise security.
On a separate issue, the minister said she personally would favour Ireland joining the genocide case taken by South Africa against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
