Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste will be aware that the new Croke Park agreement has been greeted with dismay by many within the public service and the Civil Service, particularly by front-line workers. Not for the first time, we saw yesterday members of an Garda Síochána protesting the shattering cuts they are experiencing outside Government Buildings. The attempt by the Government to silence dissent among rank and file gardaí by disciplining four Garda sergeants who walked out of the AGSI, Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, annual conference in protest at the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, is utterly wrong. The Minister has treated rank and file gardaí with nothing short of contempt. Last year, we had the attempt by the Garda Commissioner, no doubt on the bidding of the Government, to forbid gardaí from communicating with public representatives on cutbacks. This was rightly challenged by the GRA, Garda Representative Association, in the courts.

See this speech in context