Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I was going to start by sincerely recognising the important role played in opposition by the Tánaiste, the Ministers, Deputies Howlin and Rabbitte, and Dick Spring when they lobbied and called for independent oversight of the Garda Síochána. I was going to appeal to the Tánaiste to intervene in the present situation on the basis of that record. However, I have to say I was shocked by his response to Deputy Martin. He chose to repeat the false assertion that the claims made on this side of the House did not stack up, even under the Garda's internal inquiry. I named one individual in this House - a member of the Judiciary who sits in judgment on ordinary drivers when they come before the court on penalty points matters. The investigation found that the judge had verbally petitioned a garda and had three penalty points written off. The report said the paper trail in that case was not adequate. Any conviction that results from a prosecution taken by the garda in question in front of the judge in question is now unsound. This is a very serious issue.

It is a very good thing that the practice of terminating fixed penalty points has ceased. That is very welcome. The Tánaiste should be happy about it. We were told after the Morris tribunal that there would be a new system, that the blue wall of silence was being broken down and that those who want to report malpractice will be protected by the new confidential recipient system. The present debacle exposes that as a sham.

Last night, the House was treated to a cabaret from the Minister for Justice and Equality. He tied himself up in knots. On the one hand, he emphasised the informality of the information he received, presumably to escape data protection legislation. On the other hand, he stressed the formality of the reliance on Garda Síochána legislation. The Minister has consistently created the illusion that he acted promptly, took the issue seriously and dealt with it. His claims that the information was received in his Department in September and that he got it in October have been backed up by his appointed Commissioner. That would be prompt, but there is a problem - the Taoiseach says differently. The Taoiseach has said three times in written form that the information was passed on to the Minister's Department well in advance of that. Can the Tánaiste give us some answers in that regard? Which version of events is the correct one? In what month did the Minister, apart from the dossier, first get information about the allegations of the Garda whistleblower? In light of all the unanswered questions in this context, can the Tánaiste say whether he has confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the confidential recipient, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice and Equality?

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