Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I agree that the upholding of public confidence is absolutely imperative. Does the code of conduct extend to Ministers and Ministers of State? The Garda Síochána is the only buffer zone between the citizen and the criminal and in many ways it has come in for a lot of stick. The Morris tribunal revelations from Donegal did not do the force any good. I agree public confidence should be upheld. Does the code of conduct extend to Ministers of State? The Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, let fly at the Garda and said it was not able to do its job and that it was not sufficiently experienced. Does it comply with code of conduct behaviour for office holders to publicly attack the only body we have to protect the ordinary citizen from the criminal? Does the Taoiseach agree with that, or does he hold the view that a Minister of State should practice a code of conduct that does not run down the upholding of public confidence in, for example, the Garda, which is something we all have to deal with? If any Minister has a difficulty in that regard, he could bring it to the attention of either the Garda Commissioner or directly to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform instead of broadcasting it on the public airwaves and adding to a high degree of cynicism that exists in many quarters about the only force we have to protect the ordinary citizen from criminal activities and the threat and the consequences of criminality.

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