The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security is a statutory office established to provide independent oversight of the intelligence and securities agencies, and those are the SIS and the GCSB. The IGIS, as the role is called in abbreviated form, is responsible for ensuring that security and intelligence agencies carry out their activities lawfully and properly, they have the role to independently investigate complaints about those agencies, and they provide advice about oversight of those agencies to the New Zealand Government and the Intelligence Security Committee of Parliament. As is required by law, the proposed appointment of Mr Horsley has been consulted with that committee.