Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Thank you, my friend. I will not even respond to that silliness.

I do not want to compare the old RUC with An Garda Síochána, because the comparison does not stand up, but I must contend that police investigating police, wherever it happens, is not acceptable. That the Commissioner is answerable to any politician is unacceptable. There needs to be a Garda authority that is independent. GSOC needs to have more power, including oversight of the Garda Commissioner. There is not one dot, comma or clause of the Good Friday Agreement in any the agencies, institutions or protocols by which this State is run. If it is good enough for the people in the North, it is good enough for the people of the South also. Citizens deserve the very best that they can be afforded by way of public services. This is also very good for An Garda Síochána. The vast majority of gardaí are good, public-minded, patriotic men and women, both young and older. This is not a particularly Irish issue as it is a matter of human nature. We need to be made accountable, and we are. Public servants need to be made accountable, just as all agencies and institutions of the State need to be made accountable and properly policed. This requires the Garda Ombudsman to have unfettered access to the Garda PULSE system.

If the Government and our bright friend on the other side of the House believe this informal review will restore public confidence in the administration of the Department of Justice and Equality, they are very much mistaken. The only way to get to the full, unvarnished truth behind GSOC and the bugging scandal is a fully independent inquiry that has powers as legislated for in the Commissions of Investigation Act 2004. Irrespective of what the Minister, Deputy Shatter, and the Garda Commissioner might be concerned about, there is no reason for a backbench Deputy to be concerned about anything other than restoring public confidence in An Garda Síochána and the Taoiseach.

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