Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We all know that the previous Government replaced the Garda complaints commission with the Garda Ombudsman Commission so as to remove the possibility of complaints about the Garda being examined by gardaí. It was reasonable to seek an independent inquiry into the issue. As we have a Garda Ombudsman Commission and an inspectorate, it would have been simple for either to carry out an independent inquiry into what went on. In such a position, one must try to attain public confidence but unfortunately, the Minister decided not to do what he would have done in opposition but rather to get people in An Garda Síochána to investigate themselves. That did a service neither to him, the country nor An Garda Síochána.

When people queried the process, the Minister tried to tittle-tattle about a trivial affair he heard about in some way. At times, all of us could blurt out something we would, on reflection, not mean to say. Echoing what happened with the three motions on the Dáil agenda, the Minister could not come out within 24 hours to say that his action was totally inappropriate, that it was a slip of the tongue and that he would sincerely apologise to Deputy Wallace for what he did and hope that the apology would be accepted. That would have been the manly and sensible course of action but instead, the Minister persisted in arguing that proper procedure had been followed and it was perfectly correct for a Minister who might come by information confidentially, but which is irrelevant in the public sphere, to put that information in a bad light in the public domain.

I doubt if too many people in the country have not at some stage been stopped by a garda for some very minor infringement. People might be told that they should not have acted illegally but they might be allowed to continue onwards. That does not mean there is anything wrong with the judgment of a garda in such a position. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, seems to think Deputy Wallace should have contacted the Garda and argued that he should not have been allowed to continue without being summonsed for breaking the law. This is part of a pattern from the Minister of fighting not on the substance of issues but trying to besmirch the names of others.

I hope that when the Minister rises to speak tonight, he will cut the knot of the mess in which he is embroiled, as there is no doubt the Government has the numbers to win any confidence motion; that does not mean he is right. I hope he will have the courage to stand up and state that he should never have said what he did on "Prime Time", that he will apologise sincerely for any hurt caused and that he will ensure in future never to use information inappropriately. If he did so, I for one would have a new-found belief in the integrity of the Minister and the Government and their ability to admit mistakes.

The one thing we must all learn about in life is that none of us in the House is perfect. Some people have been masquerading for a long time as if they had all of the wisdom and perfection.

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