Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's contribution to the House today has done nothing to answer any of the very serious questions that have arisen in regard to how he and the Government have dealt with the allegations that have been presented to them. He again attempted to deflect, confuse and divert attention from the major issues in these various crisis that have come up in regard to how the Garda and the Department of Justice and Equality have dealt with very serious allegations.

To try and blame Fianna Fáil for the problems from their time in government was pathetic. We all know that some of these allegations have been around for a while. The Minister and his colleagues have trumpeted that they are different, that a democratic revolution took place and that all would change. Fine Gael would bring a new politics, they said. We see that nothing has changed and, in fact, they are worse than Fianna Fáil because at least they never claimed to be anything else.

Everyone will view the Minister's comment this morning that "whistleblowers should be treated with respect" with the contempt that it deserves. It is said that actions speak louder than words. The Minister's actions have screamed from the rooftops that he holds nothing but contempt for whistleblowers and anyone who dares to question him or his actions, or raise genuine concerns about how this system has operated. The Minister again today repeated his allegation that Sergeant McCabe refused to co-operate with the inquiry into the penalty points scandal. Not only could the Minister not bring himself to acknowledge or even apologise for the fact he may have been wrong, he has repeated it again. He is defending the indefensible.

There has to be an independent inquiry into the handling of all of these issues. There also has to be an independent inquiry into the surveillance of GSOC, and it is interesting that this issue seems to have disappeared in the last week or so. That is the only way that confidence can be restored. Everyone would welcome the accountability it would bring, everyone, that is, except the Minister.

The only people who told the truth in this whole affair are the only ones to have suffered. Garda whistleblower John Wilson was forced to retire, Sergeant McCabe has been made a pariah within the force and the confidential recipient Oliver Connolly was sacked because he would not deny the conversation he had with Sergeant McCabe.

How can any of us have faith that the Minister will shepherd through the changes that are required to the Garda Síochána Act 2005? He is not the person or Minister to make the necessary changes. He should resign and let someone who is not blind to the problem do the job that the Irish people and the gardaí need to be done.

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