Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am sorry to tell the Taoiseach it does not answer my question. I asked the Taoiseach whether it was acceptable, given that there is such a focus on malpractice and allegations of misconduct and illegality, that he was not told of these latest developments. He also did not answer my question yesterday when I asked whether the Commissioner was aware before he retired of the phone recordings, and of course he was. We are dragging this out word by word and sentence by sentence.

The practice of phone recording was first raised in the Chamber 20 years ago. Check it out and look at it. Will the Taoiseach take the opportunity now to apologise to the whistleblowers? Will he stand up now and exonerate these men, commend them for what they did and show them the Government's appreciation for the stand they took against the odds which will lead, we hope, to a better system of justice in the State in the time ahead?

I repeat what I stated earlier. Personal loyalty is admirable and the Minister may be all sorts of good things but incompetence is not a qualification for being a Minister for Justice and Equality. He should stand down and the Taoiseach should ask him to do so.

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