Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

The issue is about getting something done. Making ministerial announcements that certain things will happen does not mean they will happen. They are not happening and the ombudsman commission is a prime example.

We talk about what the Garda Síochána can do and about what we expect from them. My approach is simple — provide the best, expect the best and there is a fair chance we will get the best. The Garda is entitled to expect something in return from the political side. The least it should expect is an honest approach from the Government. The Government, and this Minister in particular, has been less than honest in the way he has dealt with issues relating to the Garda, for example, the issue of numbers in the Garda. There is an effort to conjure up bodies where they do not exist and to suggest that promises made before the last election by both Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats and in the programme for Government four years ago have been met.

The current Garda Review landed on my desk yesterday and its leading article states bluntly that the Garda disputes the Government assertion that its commitment in An Agreed Programme for Government to recruit an additional 2,000 members of the Garda Síochána has been met. It goes on to say the Government has failed to deliver this promise and will be unable to honour its pledge before the next general election.

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