Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy must understand that I will not comment on what action the Garda did or did not take with regard to the possibility that it did or did not foil a particular attempt on the life of any individual. I will not comment on any arrests that took place because it is not appropriate to do so.

It is unfortunate that the Deputy cannot confine himself to expressing support for the Garda but instead feels the need to engage in a false battle with me for public relations purposes. I remind him yet again that it was his party which signed a document with the troika requiring a substantial reduction in public spending, one of the measures in this regard being to reduce the membership of the Garda by the end of 2013 to 13,000.

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