Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

All last week Minister after Minister, including the Tánaiste, in the public domain asked the Minister for Justice and Equality to withdraw remarks he had made about the whistleblowers in the penalty points saga and to come into the Dáil to do so. There was a sense coming up to yesterday's Cabinet meeting that the Minister was under extreme pressure from his colleagues within the Cabinet, in particular. It was seen as a crunch meeting for him. We learned early yesterday morning that the Garda Commissioner had resigned-retired, of which the Taoiseach made an issue. Will the Taoiseach confirm whether a civil servant did, in fact, go to the Commissioner the night before? This is in the public domain. I did not put it there, but the assertion was made on RTE's "Prime Time" programme. It is an important point that needs clarification. The Commissioner resigned and the Taoiseach brought me and Deputy Gerry Adams to brief us on something that apparently was very new to him, the Cabinet and everyone else that would merit the immediate establishment of a commission of inquiry. He said the Attorney General had gone to him on Sunday night about a specific case in which proceedings had been taken against the State and the discovery launched. We have learned from the Minister this morning that the Attorney General was aware of the case for about four months. We were also told by him this morning that there was a meeting on 28 February in the Department of Justice and Equality between officials of the Department and that they would have been aware of the recordings and the issue related to the specific case. The Taoiseach's presentation to us yesterday was that it was that very specific case that had necessitated the establishment of a commission of inquiry and that the matter was new. That is the point he made yesterday. Yes it was; the Taoiseach should not shake his head.

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