Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A police force operates on the currency of the confidence of the people. In this State, we have, for the most part, been blessed with a committed and honourable force. As a result, the public have repaid the Garda with confidence. It facilitates a mainly unarmed force operating in the hearts of communities.

When such confidence breaks down its damages the citizen, the force and the rule of law. One of the primary responsibilities of the Minister for Justice and Equality is to protect and strengthen that confidence. That is what the Minister is paid to do. In the past ten days, at best we have witnessed a very public discord between the Minister and the Commissioner on the one side and GSOC on the other side. At worst, we have seen a concerted effort to destabilise GSOC. The outcome of all this is collapsed confidencein the structures of law and order in the State.

That has come about directly as a result of the behaviour and activities of the Minister. For the most part, people are interested in hearing whether there has been bugging and who was responsible. The conclusion that the possibility of an anomaly with a conference call phone being coincidental was "close to zero" has shocked people. The Minister stated there is no evidence of Garda surveillance of GSOC, but we do know there was a clear vulnerability to surveillance of GSOC. Today, the Minister himself admitted in the committee that there were unexplained security anomalies. The instincts of most people would be to explain them. The Minister's interests are not aligned with the interests of the people. Oddly, his focus has not been on the substantive issue but on the subsequent process. He and the Government have been more interested in whether the chair of GSOC should have told the Minister. His behaviour has damaged the independence of GSOC. The Minister has managed to entertain the internal contradiction that on the one hand there was no definitive evidence of bugging but on the other he is substantially concerned that GSOC did not inform him there was no definitive evidence of bugging.

Due to the political process the Minister has been brought kicking and screaming to the point of an anaemic review of the potential security breaches. Why is there so much resistance to investigation? There is consistency in the Minister's erratic behaviour. He recruited a donor to his political campaign to the position of a confidential recipient to whistleblowers’ information. When whistleblowers in the Garda sought to whistleblow, the Minister undermined them. Now he has relieved the confidential recipient of his role. The powers of GSOC are simply not adequate. If we want to strengthen public confidence we need to strengthen GSOC. If we are to learn anything from the fiasco of the past ten days it should be that the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission should be greatly increased. For example, it needs access to the PULSE system as a right. It also needs the ability to oversee and investigate all levels of the force. An ombudsman who cannot oversee a complete organisation cannot oversee it, full stop.

The new judge-led review will not create confidence. It will review documents and reports surrounding the issue but it will not call witnesses and compel the evidence of those witnesses. It will not mend the collapse in confidence that has occurred. I note the Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, said in a radio interview today that she felt there was a necessity to bring all of the resources possible to seek truth in this scenario. The chosen method of investigation does not seek to bring all possible resources to bear. Other resources are available to the Government but it is not using them. One could ask why that is the case. The Minister’s undermining of GSOC and the whistleblowing process, along with his lack of judgment and arrogant style of management has had the cumulative outcome of corroding the confidence he is employed to uphold.

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