Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take the Deputy's questions in reverse order. My only knowledge of the issue raised by Deputy McGuinness is what he said in this House yesterday and on "Morning Ireland" on RTE radio this morning. I do not have any knowledge of the matter.

I do not have knowledge of conversations that a confidential recipient has with members of An Garda Síochána. The essence of the office, as it was established when the Deputy's party was in Government, is that conversations take place between members of An Garda Síochána and the appointed confidential recipient in confidence. My only knowledge of the alleged conversation that the confidential recipient had with Sergeant McCabe initially derived from the reports of the content of the transcript that was allegedly made. It was an obvious cause of concern. I presume the Deputy is aware of why his party leader said that the confidential recipient's position was untenable. The confidential recipient, any previous one and whoever is appointed even temporarily, must ensure that a member of the force who comes to him or her has absolute confidence that an issue raised or a complaint made would be treated with seriousness, and that there is no question of them being under a threat of any nature from me or any Minister for Justice and Equality. What was said was absolutely unacceptable. It is something Deputies continue to repeat with great glee in this House. There is no question of my treating anybody in that fashion.

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