Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt the last 48 hours have been a defining period in what is an exceptionally dysfunctional relationship between An Garda Síochána and the GSOC, which is all happening under the Minister's watch. It is a very regrettable situation. To recap, we had the penalty points controversy which dominated the headlines and has served to damage the morale of the force. We also had the spat at the Committee of Public Accounts which did not do anything to improve the image. What we have seen in recent hours is deeply concerning. We have the Garda Commissioner publicly questioning, by virtue of his statement last night, the body which is charged with the independent oversight of An Garda Síochána, which serves to undermine the role of that entity. Today, we have the Garda representative organisations, the GRA and the AGSI, openly calling for resignations in the Garda ombudsman's office. Yesterday, the Garda ombudsman was forced into an apology. All of that serves to undermine public confidence in the two institutions, the Garda Síochána and the Garda ombudsman.

There is no doubt the people have immense pride and respect for An Garda Síochána. That respect is hard-earned and is cherished by everybody. However, equally, the people want to know that the independent oversight body, the Garda ombudsman, is supported and properly resourced, with legislation to carry out its oversight remit. What we saw in recent hours was deeply disconcerting. We saw the shift in the focus from the questions that were raised in the newspaper on Sunday in regard to surveillance. A report had been prepared and this was reported in the newspaper. Questions were raised regarding whether surveillance had been undertaken, whether information was intercepted, whether the work of the Garda ombudsman's office was compromised and whether some of the caseload which it is currently investigating is potentially compromised, as well as the prosecutions that may flow from that. What we saw instead was the independent office of the Garda ombudsman being dragged in to meet the Minister. We saw an effort by the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, and the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to shift the focus away from the questions which were uppermost in people's minds as to whether an event occurred and whether the independent office is under surveillance, and the story became why the Minister was not informed.

The Taoiseach was going around the country yesterday saying there was a requirement on the ombudsman's office to report when, in fact, both he and the Minister know there is not a requirement to inform. The legislation explicitly states at section 80(5) that the Garda ombudsman's office "may" inform the Minister. That then became the narrative over recent days. The Government turned the victim of the alleged surveillance and bugging into the villain, which has served fundamentally to undermine the position.

We have spoken about the morale of An Garda Síochána in the House on a number of occasions. The morale of rank and file gardaí is an issue. We know it, we have discussed it and we have addressed the issues. However, without conclusively dealing with this issue in terms of fixing the dysfunctional relationship that exists between the Garda Commissioner and the Garda ombudsman, that morale will be further eroded and further undermined.

We have discussed this on many occasions. It begs the question when the independent commissioners of the GSOC have to take to the public airwaves to ask for additional powers to be given to them. These are fairly reasonable powers on bread and butter issues. The commissioners want unfettered access to the PULSE system, which at present happens under supervision. They want to be able to receive complaints and look into matters which are referred to them directly by members of An Garda Síochána. The Garda Commissioner himself or herself, whoever is the officeholder, is not subject to oversight and to scrutiny under the present arrangement. In the North of Ireland and in Britain, chiefs of police are subject to oversight and to scrutiny, and MI5 and MI6 are also subject to a degree of oversight. However, we have the situation where our chief of police is not subject to any oversight. This weakens the hand of the GSOC when trying to deal with the issues before it, given the chief of the organisation that the GSOC is empowered to oversee is not subject to the same degree of oversight. This is something we, as an Oireachtas, and the Minister and Government, have to take very seriously.

During Leaders' Questions today, the matter of the role of the office of the confidential recipient was raised. It was also raised last week by Deputy Mick Wallace in this House in regard to comments made in a transcript of a conversation with the whistleblower, Maurice McCabe. We did not get a response from the Taoiseach when it was raised by my party leader during Leaders' Questions. I believe it is of fundamental importance, given that this person was appointed by the Minister to this office. It is on the public record that he was also a supporter of the Minister's party. This is a very important officeholder. The whistleblower contacted this man, and got the response he got, which he has transcribed. An audio of this transcript is also available and is held in the office of Maurice McCabe's solicitor for safe keeping. The transcript states:

... and you go in there looking for the numbers and whatever else you want, you get it, and if the stuff was to get out into the public, the print media, it must come with what happens in the courtroom. I'll tell you something, Maurice, and this is just personal advice to you, if Shatter thinks you're screwing him, you're finished.

It goes on:

If stuff is to get into print, broadcast media, it becomes public before the court and not any other way. If Shatter thinks it's you, or if he thinks that it is told by the Commissioner or the gardaí, here's this guy again trying another route to put you under pressure, he'll go after you.

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