Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the short time available, I want to say, first, why my party continues to support and have confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality and, second, why the outcome of recent weeks will be one of the most productive episodes in terms of implementing long-overdue reforms of policing.

The Government has agreed a package of radical reforms such as have eluded all Governments to date. These will include the establishment of a Garda authority; an open competition for Commissioner of An Garda Síochána; legislative powers for GSOC to enable it to discharge its oversight functions properly; direct access by serving gardaí to the ombudsman, thereby replacing the absurd office of confidential recipient; a commission of investigation chaired by Mr. Justice Nial Fennelly of the Supreme Court to establish the truth about current matters; legislative protection for whistleblowers; and an extension of the Freedom of Information Act to the Garda save for specified exceptions, such as security.

It was Mr. Rahm Emanuel who said: "You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." He elaborated by saying: "And what I mean by that is an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before." This Minister and Government have certainly confronted issues that previous Governments have avoided. We have seized the opportunity to do important things.

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