Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This week has been a difficult one for many people in Ireland. The manner in which the Government has set about congratulating itself so much is very difficult for a lot of people to listen to. I would say more than half of the people of Ireland are struggling to pay their household bills. More than half of our people are in a difficult place and a large proportion of them are probably wondering how they are going to continue to make ends meet. This morning I spoke to very good friend of mine from a place called Ballindaggin in Wexford. He worked as a carpenter and started serving his time at 15. He retired a few months ago at 65 years of age and he told me his cost of living was nearly double his pension. He is eating into his meagre savings and wondering what the future holds for him. My mother is 90 this year. She fell in the kitchen at home about four weeks ago. She went to the hospital in Wexford for an X-ray and spent over eight hours on a trolley there. My sister had to get a coat for her to keep her warm. She has reared 12 children and is not the most demanding of women, but I think she is entitled to a little more than that. She was eventually moved to Waterford Regional Hospital.

I have been there on four occasions since and have been shocked at how hard the nurses have to work. They are literally running. I do not understand the Government’s philosophy in dealing with nursing recruitment. A recent European study published in The Lancetstated, “the assumption that hospital nurse staffing can be reduced to save money without adversely affecting patient outcomes may be misguided at best, and fatal at worst”. The moratorium on public sector recruitment also makes no economic sense given that millions of euro are spent on agency nurses. It has been estimated the Health Service Executive, HSE, would save €23 million if current agency staff were converted into direct employment. I do not understand why the Government has taken this stand. People are losing their lives because there are not enough health staff to look after them in the system.

I am disappointed the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, is not in the Chamber. I would need three hours to go through all the areas in which I found him to have behaved poorly in the past 18 months. Is the Minister concerned at the allegations made by one of the Garda whistleblowers that 40 Traveller families were entered on the Garda PULSE, police using leading systems effectively, system, including a baby only 16 days old and that these registrations were made without any proper foundation, criminal or otherwise. The Irish Traveller Movement has issued a statement demanding these claims be thoroughly and immediately investigated, alongside the allegations that form the basis of Sean Guerin's review. Will the Minster confirm that he will extend the terms of reference into the whistleblower allegations to include these allegations?

Although I am well aware that not all entries on PULSE are necessarily criminal ones, the whistleblower’s allegations clearly and specifically allege these entries were made in a criminal context and that a criminal intelligence number was ascribed to Travellers as a matter of course. He also alleged that senior gardaí encouraged these practices and that prejudice against Travellers is endemic in the Garda Síochána. I assume the Minister for Justice and Equality is concerned by such allegations. I note, however, that in December 2012, when Maurice McCabe sent the Minister an e-mail stating innocent children were recorded as suspects and as criminals, he wrote back five days later stating there was no evidence of this. Clearly, he had no intention of investigating the issue just in case some evidence did appear.

Will the Minister seek out confirmation from the Garda Commissioner as to whether a PULSE file was created on a Traveller child 16 days old and this child was ascribed a criminal intelligence number separate from a parent or guardian? Will he find out whether other Traveller children or adults have been assigned separate criminal intelligence PULSE numbers on a similarly casual basis and without any proper foundation? Will he check as to whether this is as a result of any prejudicial or racial profiling attitudes or practices in the Garda Síochána?

Although the Minister has set out previously in the House that he is satisfied with the Garda Commissioner's assurances that racial profiling does not exist in the Garda Síochána, the evidence is mounting that this is not the case. For example, ENAR Ireland, European Network against Racism, and its website iReport.ie, a racist incident recording system, has logged a number of incidents which strongly suggest racial profiling and outright racism by members of An Garda Síochána. Its first quarterly report details some alarming incidents indicating prejudicial Garda attitudes particularly with Travellers. It concludes it is clear "there is some work for the Garda in promptly addressing issues of racist victimisation and recognising the impact of poor communication on victims".

In this context and in the light of the findings regarding racial profiling in the Garda as outlined last February in the report of the European Commission on Racism and Intolerance, a Council of Europe body, and similar concerns about Garda racial profiling as set out in the last report from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, it is all the more surprising the Minister did not ask the Ombudsman for Children, Ms Emily Logan, to inquire into whether racial or ethnic profiling was a factor in the Garda decision last October to forcibly remove two Roma children from their families. Will the Minister now consider extending these terms of reference? It would seem that whether racial profiling impacted on Garda conduct is the central issue in that controversy. This inquiry could also be extended to examine the wider question of whether there are racial profiling practices in the Garda Síochána and to make recommendations in this regard. Will the Minister confirm that he will consider this extension to the terms of reference and that he will allow Emily Logan independent access to PULSE to assist such an inquiry?

In the past 18 months, the Minister has continuously refused to use the best legislation available to him, preferring instead to rubbish any allegations that question his authority and choosing to minimise and dismiss rather than help to throw light on the issues. In a reply to parliamentary question in February, the Minister stated, “I believe it is of crucial importance that whistleblowers are treated with respect and their allegations taken seriously.” Anyone who would have taken the time to read the transcript of the conversation between the whistleblower and Oliver Connolly, the Garda confidential recipient, will come to the conclusion that he took the whistleblower more seriously than either the Minister or Garda Commissioner. The confidential recipient’s statement made yesterday was strange. His inability to deal satisfactorily with Maurice McCabe's allegations had much more to do with the dysfunctional structures presided over by the Minister and the Garda Commissioner. I can only presume that it was some loyalty to the Minister that prevented him throwing his pointless job back at him, a loyalty the Minister did not reciprocate.

The Government has defended the Minister for Justice and Equality 100%. It had to make a call on it. I believe it will regret making that call, however. The Minister has done little to seek out the truth about the series of allegations that have come before him over the past 18 months. It is nothing short of frightening the number of people who have contacted my office, as well as Deputy Clare Daly’s and Deputy Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan’s, in the past month. There are so many allegations of Garda malpractice and corruption, we are finding it difficult to respond to all of them. Yet the Minister does not want to know about it. When we will get an independent pubic inquiry into these allegations? Why does the Minister keep postponing it? The dogs on the street know we are not going to get the truth until there is an independent public inquiry. The dogs on the street also realise the Minister and the Garda Commissioner have long proved they are unfit for office. I find it incredible that the Labour Party has stuck with him. It is not good for the coalition Government.

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