Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In respect of the question that Deputy Martin asked, I referred to Garda Sergeant McCabe's own words when he spoke to Assistant Commissioner, John O'Mahony, when he was invited to make a contribution or information that he had available to the investigation team. He said he ended the call because he was alarmed that the assistant commissioner wanted to speak to someone on the investigation team, and that was before the report was published. Deputy Adams, like Deputy Martin, is focusing on a specific issue here. The bigger elements concern the material Deputy Michael Martin gave me, and he was right to give that to me because of the serious nature of the allegations.

Deputy Adams asked me why did we not set up a special investigation commission immediately. The truth of the matter is that a number of these bodies are completely independent of this House. GSOC is independent of the House. It was set up for a particular purpose, that of receiving complaints from citizens or in the case of gardaí who wished to make a complaint about elements in the force and that this could be done through the confidential recipient process. That has not worked. The Government approved an amendment to change the law in this regard - that gardaí or serving members can go directly to GSOC, which is utterly independent of this House, as is the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, over which I have no authority, nor has the Deputy, nor has this House. In respect of the matters that were investigated by the Garda Commissioner, in some cases by the Director of Public Prosecutions, or in some cases by GSOC, two of those are completely independent bodies.

It is only right and proper that there should be the scoping exercise, to which the Government has agreed, as happened in the case of the scoping exercise in regard to the Morris tribunal. A similar instance arose when the Minister for Health initiated an inquiry in respect of the very serious matters that arose regarding the maternity situation in Portlaoise hospital. This scoping exercise can inform the Minister as to the need for a formal investigation or otherwise. In this case the decision of the Government will bring into focus the assessment of the investigative process that was followed arising from the allegations.

Deputy Martin gave me his documentation from Sergeant McCabe and one of the issues is an allegation that a garda perjured himself in court and was berated by the judge. That was part of a case that was brought to our attention. What was the outcome? Did this go the Director of Public Prosecutions, was there an independent decision, an investigation by the Garda Commissioner followed by the allegation from Sergeant McCabe? That is why it is necessary to have a proper scoping exercise by a qualified, competent person who can put all this in coherent manner and make a recommendation to me as Taoiseach for presentation to the Oireachtas. If that recommendation is that there be a requirement for a special investigation commission, then that is what will happen. That is clear. I believe it was the right and prudent thing to do, in view of all of the documentation, all of the reports, all of the allegations and all of the investigations that have taken place, to put that process in place and bring clarity and truth to it. That will enable us to focus on the serious issues that Deputy Michael Martin brought to my attention following the presentation to the Deputy Adams from Sergeant McCabe.

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