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

The reform of Garda oversight and accountability is not just in the public interest, but in the interests of An Garda Síochána. All my political lifetime, the perennial question of who guards the guardians - quis custodiet ipsos custodes - has been on or near the political agenda, but the political system has failed up to now to address it adequately. I put that failure largely down not just to a lack of political will, but to a lack of confidence and a belief that we must turn a blind eye when rule enforcers break the rules because they cannot succeed without the unquestioning support of the so-called right-thinking people. The occasional former Minister for justice attempted one or other aspect of the reform package now being advanced, but was unable to bring it over the line. The establishment of a Garda authority will interpose between Minister and Commissioner and will set the broad policy goals for policing in Ireland and be seen to hold the Garda Commissioner to account.

Perhaps the bravest and most significant decision taken regarding the Garda Síochána was the first, to disarm the successors to the old Royal Irish Constabulary. The first Garda Commissioner, Michael Staines, said at the time: "the Garda Síochána will succeed not by force of arms or numbers, but on their moral authority as servants of the people". Moral authority is the most precious asset in the Garda inventory but it is also the one most easily dissipated.

I believe the steps we have now taken will contribute to a restoration of faith in the integrity of our policing service and can only assist, in the longer term, in the discharge of the Garda functions of preserving the peace, protecting life and property, vindicating human rights, protecting the security of the State, preventing crime and bringing criminals to justice. It is these reforms that will endure long after the who-said-what-when frenzy abates.

Neither this debate in the House nor interviews outside of the House can answer all of the questions generated by recent extraordinary events. That is the reason the Government decided, on the advice of the Taoiseach, to establish a commission of investigation under a Supreme Court judge. Let the inquiry answer the outstanding questions. I cannot answer why it took 15 days to bring a section 41 letter to the attention of the Minister, nor can I say why the letter was not directly addressed to the Minister as envisaged by the section. However, I believe the Minister when he says he did not receive the letter until 12.40 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 March. This debate, therefore, can clear up some of the questions but, by reason of the nature of this controversy, there are other questions that must be left to the statutory inquiry.

One question we can clear up with certainty is that the former Garda Commissioner never met the Attorney General on this issue. When he met with the unit in her office that interacts with the Garda Síochána on 11 November 2013, it concerned a data retention issue brought to light by a prominent case now in the news. There was no suggestion of unlawful interception of calls. There never was a working party comprising the Garda Commissioner and the Attorney General on this matter or a working party involving the Commissioner and any staff of the Office of the Attorney General.

Much of the public dissatisfaction with how these events have unfolded has been legitimate, although some of it has been stoked up by groundless and alarmist speculation and the type of grandstanding we have seen here this evening. The Government must reflect on this and on the root causes for public unease, and we must learn our lesson. The controversy concerning the whistleblowers was unnecessarily allowed to go on for too long. I said on the radio more than five weeks ago, on 21 February, that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, would correct the record if he had been misadvised or found that he was mistaken. He did correct the record, but after an unconscionably long time. Anyway, the wisdom of an earlier ministerial apology now seems a relatively minor controversy when compared to what came to light over the weekend of 22 and 23 March. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, is not responsible for putting in place a systemic and unlawful capture of telephone exchanges in and out of Garda stations. How and why this matter was eventually exposed bears close scrutiny and, in my view, must be captured by the terms of reference of the inquiry.

I believe the authors of tonight's motion appreciate the gravity for confidence in the administration of justice of what came to light on the weekend of 23 and 24 March. However, Fianna Fáil clearly believes that if it did not go through the motions, it would be beaten to the punch by Sinn Féin. While Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin compete for who can make the most noise, the Government has decided to leave what happened to an independent statutory inquiry and to press ahead, in parallel, with the most far-reaching package of reforms of policing in recent decades. A glance at the Government's amendment shows the body of work addressed by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, since taking office. No Minister for Justice and Equality, without exception, has implemented such an extensive reform programme in three years or taken so many novel initiatives. It is important that this Minister be allowed to complete his programme. Those who would obstruct him would be wise to await the outcome of the inquiries now being commenced.

I can understand why people might be baffled by the recent series of events, but I am confident that the public will understand why the Government has taken the decisions it has taken when findings of fact are made by the independent inquiry. In the meantime, I and my colleagues in the Labour Party have full confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality.

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