Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Drugs are an appalling blight on our communities. While the report is not specific on this matter, it does get to the heart of how An Garda Síochána deals with drugs. There have been reports in the public domain of Garda collusion in the drugs trade, which was confirmed as part of an internal investigation as a result of whistleblower allegations, and we have had people giving evidence on television that they were fitted up. Without asking the Commissioner the details, we understand from the media that the internal report validated the allegation that Garda involvement in the drugs trade contributed to a worsening of the drugs problem in a midlands town. How did the media get that report when the person who made the original complaint has not been given a full copy of it? Does the Commissioner agree it is unacceptable that people to whom those allegations were made on a number of previous occasions and who took no action on them continue to be at the height of an organisation which is claiming to deal with change? Does it not send a very contradictory signal to people who come forward with an allegation when the people who did nothing when allegations were put to them years ago remain at the very top of the organisation and while the Commissioner's own internal inquiries confirm Garda collusion in the horrendous drug trade that is such a blight on our society?