Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure what the Deputy's position is now in terms of whether he supports the Minister in what he is doing here. The central tenet of what the Minister has done is to keep respect and integrity in the Garda Síochána and in the process here. As Deputy Adams is well aware, the Committee of Public Accounts, over many years, always had an independence within the Houses of the Oireachtas to examine reports that were commented upon and presented by the Comptroller and Auditor General. In this case, where there was a reference to a financial loss to the State, there is a connection. At the same time, there is a whole range of other matters which the Minister had to take into account.

Yesterday the Minister announced that he is referring the allegations of improper cancellations of fixed-charge notices to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission for investigation. He sent a formal letter today to that effect and is also writing today to the Committee of Public Accounts requesting that it forward to the ombudsman commission any documentation it has that may be relevant to the investigation. The Minister is entitled, under section 102 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, where he considers it desirable in the public interest, to request the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission to investigate a particular matter, where it appears to the Minister to indicate that a member of the Garda Síochána may have committed an offence or behaved in a manner that might justify disciplinary proceedings.

The discussions taking place at the Committee of Public Accounts are a matter for that committee. The Minister for Justice and Equality has acted responsibly and decisively in referring this matter to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission for completely independent and objective analysis in as broad as a way as the independent commission thinks fit. I am glad to note that the Garda Commissioner is happy about this and will co-operate fully with the commission.

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