Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin also supports the call for a fully independent inquiry without delay into these matters.

A part of the difficulty is something about which I challenged the Taoiseach in my first question. Yesterday, he inaccurately quoted section 80(5) of the Garda Síochána Act. He has done it again now. Whatever about whether the ombudsman was right or wrong not to report the matter to the Minister, the ombudsman is not bound to do so. The section states: "The Ombudsman Commission may make any other reports that it considers appropriate for drawing to the Minister's attention matters that have come to its notice." The ombudsman's office may or may not. Obviously, the ombudsman did not. Why not? This is why we need an independent element to examine these issues.

The Taoiseach quoted what could be described as a Jesuitical statement about whether the office was bugged. Was it found that an unauthorised system was in place that would have left the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, offices vulnerable to bugging? I have read all of these reports. It depends exactly on how one interprets what happened. GSOC was concerned enough to bring someone in from outside the State to examine the matter. It was concerned enough at the outcome of that examination not to report it to the Garda Commissioner or the Minister.

The ombudsman commission is appointed by the President. That is rightly so. However, if the Taoiseach misses my next point, he misses it all. Following the penalty points debacle and the whistleblowers controversy, does this current scandal not highlight the worrying level of distrust between GSOC and the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice and Equality?

See this speech in context