Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Only this week we met a member of An Garda Síochána who has just submitted a protected disclosure. He is out of work sick for a while due to stress at work. He has given us incredibly detailed information about things that have been happening, right up until recently. To be honest, we found it hard to believe that the things he told us about could still be happening, including how senior management dealt with this when he raised concerns about certain issues. It was very disheartening for us because while people might think that Deputies Daly and Wallace just want to give out about things, we will not be vindicated until we have a police force that everybody is proud of. We have been tackling these issues for five years, and if nothing is changing, it means that maybe we are wasting our time and we have failed. We want things to be done right.

It was very disappointing to look at the information the garda gave to us about this. He has given a protected disclosure but we have not put it in to the public domain yet. His message to us was that not much has changed yet. I am an optimist by nature and I still believe that things will change, but sadly not enough has changed. Poor Maurice McCabe is, in some ways, lucky to be alive still and that he did not do away with himself when the pressure was so great on him at times. It would be very sad and disappointing for him if nothing changes. None of the people who came forward wanted changes more than Maurice McCabe in the way An Garda Síochána does its work. Do the representatives here today understand that if things are still not being done properly, it seriously undermines the current position? No?