Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think there is any difference of opinion between the Deputy and me or anybody else in the House about what we want to do here. We need to have the truth of these matters. We need to have confidence, credibility and integrity both in the Garda Síochána in the conduct of its affairs on behalf of the people of the nation and also in respect of GSOC. The Deputy gave me this documentation just last week and we now have a response to it as to what we intend to do. I am not in a position to have the documentation from the DPP or GSOC. These bodies are completely independent of this House. The Garda Síochána, on the directions of the Commissioner, investigated quite a number of the allegations that were made, but the report I have here in respect of assaults and the conduct of gardaí in that is directly contradictory to those findings. Who am I to believe here?

We are working in the interests of having answers for people so that clarity is brought to this. That is why Mr. Guerin SC, who is an experienced criminal lawyer, will assess the investigative methods that were carried out on the papers that are available to him. I expect that everybody will co-operate with this, including the Garda, the DPP where relevant, GSOC, the confidential recipient and the Department of Justice and Equality.

What I have in mind is that the SC, with a criminal lawyer's practice, will look at that process, make recommendations and present a report to me as Taoiseach. I will bring the report before the Oireachtas and have it debated publicly. Clearly, if he recommends that further work is required here, in terms of an investigation, that shall be done. On a number of occasions in the past, a scoping exercise of merit was carried out and this justified the setting up of investigations. As the Deputy is well aware, that is what happened in the case of the scoping exercise that led to the commission of inquiry in the Morris tribunal in Donegal many years ago.

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