Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach's answer is very disappointing because I am not clear whether he is going to include these matters in the commission of investigation, or whether he is going to set up a separate commission of investigation. The Taoiseach is saying these are highly significant and stark matters. In the lead in to the Morris tribunal, then Opposition Deputy Alan Shatter rightly tabled a motion here for the required public inquiry into allegations of misconduct by some gardaí in County Donegal. He expressed disappointment when the then Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice said that he was going to appoint a lawyer instead to examine all the relevant papers. At the time of the Morris report, the Minister said the following:

These matters should not have been left festering. The [Fianna Fáil] Minister for Justice kicked essentially to touch... A banana republic would not deal with an issue as serious as this in such a manner.

I rest my case. The Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, said that a banana republic would not deal with an issue as serious as this in such a manner, yet he is now the justice Minister. The Morris tribunal uncovered alarming illegalities, corruption and cover-up by some elements of the Garda, which do not reflect on the vast majority of members of that service. Mr. Justice Morris was also very clear that the combination of corruption uncovered in Donegal could easily occur elsewhere. He made that very clear. In the Bailey case, it could be even worse, because the issues involved are not just local or regional; they go right to the top of the justice system in the Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice and Equality, and that is a matter of public record.

Again, I ask the Taoiseach to be clear in his answer that either he will include these matters in the commission of investigation, or he will set up an appropriate inquiry, which the Minister, Deputy Shatter, argued for in the build up to the Morris tribunal when he was Fine Gael spokesperson, which means a commission of investigation.

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