Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

Many people will have seen the very dignified appearance by Mrs. Christine O'Toole on RTE last night. Mrs. O'Toole is the mother of the young man, 24 year old Derek O'Toole, who was tragically killed on Sunday morning in Lucan in a road accident. She complained validly about the spin created in a number of media outlets yesterday to the effect that her son was "known to the gardaí". That is a code for having a criminal record or for being a person of ill-repute, neither of which is true. I make no judgment on what happened, subject to a full investigation, but members of the Garda Síochána were involved in the tragedy. There is a suspicion that when members of the Garda Síochána are involved in such incidents a spin is put to the media, anonymously and from unattributed sources, to secure a prejudgment on issues that arise in the case with a view to minimalising the responsibility of the gardaí involved. I previously raised the question in the context of the tragic killing of John Carthy in Abbeylara, who was the subject of disgraceful leaks from inside the Garda Síochána.

What is the view of the Government on the systematic and unattributable briefings by members of the Garda Síochána, sometimes by very senior officers, in respect of issues concerning citizens' good names? Are such briefings acceptable or should they not be allowed to continue? Does the Taoiseach agree that there must be a full and independent investigation on foot of the circumstances in which Derek O'Toole died?

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