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

I thank Deputy Niall Collins for the questions he has raised. By way of context, I refer the Deputy to the entirety of subsection 41(1) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, which provides that the Garda Commissioner shall keep the Minister and the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality fully informed of certain matters. The Deputy was somewhat selective in his reference to subsection 41(1)(a) only, which deals with matters relating to significant developments concerning the preservation of peace and public order in the State, the protection of life and property in the State, and the protection of the security of the State. He chose, however, to leave out the rest of the subsection. Under paragraph (b), the Minister must be informed by the Garda Commissioner of "significant developments that might reasonably be expected to affect adversely public confidence in the Garda Síochána", which is a matter of particular importance in regard to the issue we are discussing. Paragraph (c), meanwhile, refers to "matters relevant to the accountability of the Government to the Houses of the Oireachtas", which is also pertinent. Finally, paragraph (d) refers to "any other matters that, in the Commissioner's opinion, should be brought to the Minister's attention".

I wish to repeat something I have already said in very straightforward terms. I have no information about any Member of this House. I do not seek information about Members of this House. The only occasion on which I raised an issue with the Garda Commissioner about a Member of this House related directly to my concerns about how that Member was treated in the context of matters which, for reasons I could not understand, appeared in the public media. I communicated my concern about that to the Commissioner.

I did not seek any information in regard to Deputy Mick Wallace. The transparency which everybody has been insisting upon is something which I myself have been insisting on in regard to every aspect of not just the fixed-charge issue, but the related issues that have been reasonable to raise in respect of the manner in which members of An Garda Síochána apply and exercise their discretion in regard to road traffic offences. I have been seeking to ensure I have the maximum information. There were some issues not addressed in the reports and I sought some additional information in regard to those. In fairness to Deputy Wallace, as he has rightly said, discretion can be exercised in a number of circumstances. Most people in the State have a family member who has experienced either being stopped by a garda or, as in the Deputy experience, being at a traffic light when a garda knocks on the roof or window to warn one about something. It happened to me many years ago in a different context. It turned out the warning I got was wrong because there was not an issue.

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