Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is trua nach bhfuil an tAire Shatter anseo mar is chuige atá an díospóireacht seo dírithe. Tagann an leithscéal a ghabh sé níos luaithe sé mhí ró-dheireanach. Glacaim leis go bhfuil brón ar an Aire agus go nglacann sé leis go bhfuil sé ag gabháil leithscéil leis an mbeirt garda ar chaitheadh smál orthu toisc an méid atá ráite fúthu thar roinnt míonna. Ach tá an damáiste déanta. Tá damáiste déanta dá clú agus dá cáil agus do shláinte duine amháin acu. Theip ar a shláinte de thairbhe an bhrú mór faoina raibh sé le tamall de bhlianta anuas, na sé mhí dheireanacha ach go háirithe.

Measaim nár ghabh an tAire ach leath leithscéal agus go bhfuil gá le gníomh de réir an leithscéil atá eisithe aige. Cúig bliana ó shin is ea a thosaigh an tromluí don bheirt garda a dhein iarracht chróga droch-chleachtas nó caimiléireacht laistigh de chóras na bpointí pionóis a nochtadh. Ar dtús, dhein siad iarracht é seo a dhéanamh go hinmheánach, laistigh de struchtúr an Gharda Síochána, ach nuair a theip ar sin, chuaigh siad lasmuigh den struchtúr sin. De réir an dlí, chuaigh siad chuig an confidential recipient, Oliver Connolly. Nuair a theip ar sin agus nuair a rinneadh bagairt orthu go gcasfadh an tAire Shatter orthu dá leanfaidís lena líomhaintí, chas siad - bhí an ceart sin acu - ar thacaíocht a lorg ó Theachtaí Dála chun iarracht a dhéanamh an cheist maidir leis an gcóras a ardú.

Measaim go nglacann gach duine leis nach raibh na gardaí seo ach ionraic ó thús agus nach raibh i gceist acu ach córas, maith, ceart a bheith ann. Ní raibh siad ag iarraidh an Gharda Síochána a bhriseadh, an Coimisinéir Martin Callinan a bhriseadh as a phost nó fiú an tAire Shatter a bhriseadh as a phost. Ní sin a bhí i gceist acu. Is é a bhí i gceist ná a léiriú go hinmheánach go raibh fadhb ann agus gur cóir go ndéileálfadh an córas le sin. Táimid imithe beagán den bhealach le sin a dhéanamh inniu agus beagán eile ó thosaigh na tuairiscí ag teacht amach go raibh rud éigin mícheart leis an gcóras.

Today, the Minister gave a belated apology, but it should not have taken this long for him to admit the two men were right from the start or that former garda John Wilson and Sergeant Maurice McCabe were, in fact, courageous men. For two men within an organisation renowned for its collegiality and its closing of ranks when under attack to try to expose within the organisation of An Garda Síochána that there was a problem with the penalty points system was courageous. For them to continue having been rebuked was courageous. Instead of undermining them, dismissing them or attacking their characters, as happened in recent months, both by the former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, and the Minister, Deputy Shatter, they should have been praised from the start.

They were whistleblowers who should have been put up as an example to others, because through their actions they have managed to expose major flaws within the system. They have managed to expose malpractice and corruption within the penalty points system. However, their reward from within An Garda Síochána is a living disgrace. I do not know whether everybody has seen the harrowing account on television recently by former garda John Wilson. Even at this late stage, those who have not watched it should watch it and see how this man's health was broken by the controversy and as a result of how he and his colleague, Maurice McCabe, were treated. In his account he told how he was victimised and harassed within An Garda Síochána. A dead rat was hung from his door, he was arrested in public and was ostracised and sent on fool's errands around the county. His health broke because of this and he believes he has suffered a severe consequence as a result.

Nobody can say these were not courageous men. This should not have happened to them, but it did and as yet I have not heard anybody say that what happened to them was wrong. As far as I am aware, sanctions imposed against Sergeant Maurice McCabe within An Garda Síochána have not been lifted to date. They should be lifted forthwith. There should be recognition within An Garda Síochána that what happened was wrong and that the sanctions should never have been imposed on somebody who had the interests of An Garda Síochána and the penalty points system at heart from day one. If we had other courageous men and women like these two men in other organisations to highlight wrongdoing within those organisations, we would have a better society. These two men stood out, not only against An Garda Síochána and all its members, but also against the Department of Justice and Equality and the Minister because they believed they were right. They have been vindicated as having been right, but that vindication has not been fully validated by the Minister.

One of the big questions I have in regard to all of this concerns how Assistant Commissioner O'Mahoney got it so wrong, particularly when we consider the Comptroller and Auditor General's initial account and the subsequent account following the O'Mahoney report, the report of the Garda Inspectorate. These exposed major failings. They state there were consistent and widespread breaches of policy by those charged with administering the penalty points system. This totally contradicts the O'Mahoney report. The Garda Inspectorate report also stated that the accumulation of fixes over the years resulted in a technically deficient managerially uncoordinated and inefficient support system.

The Garda Inspectorate report made major recommendations and, thankfully, some of those are being acted on already. I acknowledge the Minister's hand in that and acknowledge his role and that of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Varadkar, in recognising the system needed to be changed. However, this could have happened five years ago. If these men were listened to five years ago, we would be in a far better place at this stage and their health might not have been affected.

What are the consequences for the assistant commissioner for such a shoddy piece of work? Does the Minister back the report of the assistant commissioner now? We are led to believe there is a new era of transparency and that the era of the nod and the wink and the backhanders is gone.

I have heard the Minister saying that the Garda Síochána needs to be beyond reproach, but that has not been the case here. In the Minister's summing up and question and answer session he should have the courage not just to apologise but to admit that he was wrong in his approach to these men from day one. He should admit that there have been consequences for their lives and, in one case at least, for their health and that he will do his damnedest to make his mistakes right. I see the Minister nodding his head. If he is unwilling to take those steps-----

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