Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thought it right, in the interests of having a police force - An Garda Síochána - that stood up to scrutiny in terms of its competence and professionalism and in which people throughout the community could have faith, trust and belief, that I should bring the matter to the attention of the Cabinet. I know that the media focus was on crunch meetings to deal with the comments made by the former Commissioner at the Committee of Public Accounts and the comments made by the Minister for Justice and Equality in the Dáil. The public comment was about what was going to happen, but this is a matter that goes beyond that because it does not just deal with a single case which I cannot name, as I explained to Deputy Micheál Martin yesterday, in the sense that there are now more than 2,500 tapes up to 2008 and from that period until the process was terminated last November. The recordings are in digital format and I do not know the extent or scale of what is involved. That is why yesterday the Government made very clear and particular decisions. What I want out of this is an independent statutory authority to deal with An Garda Síochána in which the people could have faith and belief that the matters that have come to light would be dealt with. They will be dealt with and I will see to it that they are. I want the Deputy to be as constructive as he can be in the fundamental issue that is at stake. While Deputy Mattie McGrath may laugh at the fact that the Attorney General did not wish to comment on this serious matter over the telephone, I completely reject his assertion. I felt it important that I talk to the members of the Cabinet, inform the public and Deputies Micheál Martin and Gerry Adams.

See this speech in context