Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not suppose the Minister's sums include the cost of the alcohol supplied.

There has been a high incidence of complaints in this area. A total of 111 complaints were made in 2007 to 2008 but no charges have been brought.

It is clear there is a systemic problem in terms of Garda policy and procedure. The section 98 investigation will not address that but a section 106 investigation would, and I am disappointed the Minister would not consider introducing it. We can also see this defensive approach of the gardaí, the blue wall of silence and the Garda entrenched in automatic opposition to any kind of transparency in the refusal of the Minister's friend, the Commissioner, to provide files in the Ian Bailey civil case against the State for wrongful arrest, and also in the Commissioner's direction to the Data Protection Commissioner to seize the files in the possession of the Committee of Public Accounts relating to the cancellation of fixed charge notices. However, it is within the remit of the Minister to check that tendency and to hold the Garda to account. Sadly, his track record to date has been weak and bordering on cowardly. Ordering a section 106 investigation into issues surrounding the Corrib gas project would go some way to redressing that imbalance.

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