Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Níl Gaeilge shách mhaith agam chun ceisteanna a fhreagairt as Gaeilge. Mar sin, tá orm caint as Béarla. I would not like to mislead the House by answering the questions inaccurately in any way.

I share Deputy Calleary's welcoming of the report. As he indicated, it reveals very severe weaknesses in the process that existed. This has been the subject of reports over many years. The Government's intention has always been to restore confidence in the system. Immediately on receipt of the report, the Minister for Justice and Equality presented it to the Government. We have decided to implement its 37 recommendations. This afternoon, the joint implementation group will sit for the first time.

It is not the case that the Minister for Justice and Equality refused to acknowledge the role played by whistleblowers. He openly acknowledged, as I do, that the whistleblowers and their persistence have been crucial in getting to this point. We are now in a position to fix a system that has been clearly not working for many years. I acknowledge the role of whistleblowers, as has the Minister for Justice and Equality. Moreover, the Government is determined to ensure whistleblowers receive better protection. We are introducing legislation to do that. Specifically, we are introducing an amendment to ensure Garda whistleblowers will no longer have to go through the confidential recipient.

I do not want to politicise this. There is a danger, in circumstances in which the Dáil is rightly taking more interest in holding public officials to account, of seeking to politicise every objective for short-term political purposes. We need a Legislature that is able to conduct business in the way it should be done, that is, objectively. Members will have seen that the Minister for Justice and Equality did absolutely the right thing in every case as soon as he heard the allegations.

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