Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

There are still many questions to answer in respect of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, the letters and the resignation or retirement of the former Garda Commissioner, Mr. Callinan. I take issue with the double standards of the Labour Party in government. Last night, Frank McBrearty and Sarah Bland were in the Visitors Gallery. These two individuals have raised serious questions about the justice and Garda system in this country. Their response, not mine, was that it was a mirror image of previous debates they have seen when the Labour Party and Fine Gael were on this side of the House and Fianna Fáil was on that side of the House. The silence of the Labour Party when the penalty points and whistleblower issues were being raised was woeful and the belated intervention of Labour Party Ministers after that of the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, was glaring.

I take issue with what I see as the heart of what we are dealing with. There have been many instances of Garda malpractice, alleged malpractice and injustice in this country.

These include the high-profile and continuing case of Mr. Ian Bailey. When the Minister was on this side of the House, he railed about how badly the Fr. Niall Molly case was handled. The matter has been out in the public domain. Senior Fianna Fáil Ministers were at the scene and senior Fine Gael Ministers colluded with the church to-----

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