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

If we allow this attitude to prevail then it is the same as saying that no Minister can ever be held to account for their actions. The facts of this crisis show that anyone who was looking to the Labour Party to assert basic standards of accountability within the Government can now give up all hope. In this case, the Taoiseach and Minister for Justice

pushed the Garda Commissioner into resignation but did not think it necessary to inform the Labour Party about it. This is apparently okay with the Labour Party. It is also okay with that party that it took months to force the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to apologise for a false slur against Garda whistleblowers, and that he has built up a unique record of dismissing anyone who raises any inconvenient issue.

We are not talking about one incident of bad judgment or misfortune concerning a Minister. What is involved is a mounting list of events which have already destroyed public confidence in the oversight by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, of one of the most vital areas handled by Government. The administration of justice and public faith in our police force are not marginal issues: they cannot be pushed aside with the usual spin. Four separate inquiries have been established into matters under the direct control of the Minister, Deputy Shatter. In three instances, there is no question of his full knowledge of the issues and eagerness to declare files closed. The inquiries followed public statements by the Minister that everything was fine. In the case of the Garda and prison tapes, his Department was in possession of significant information for months. This matter is only being investigated because the Attorney General raised the matter with the Taoiseach.

Continuing with his standard practice of dismissing all challenges, the Minister, Deputy Shatter, said last night that questions about "who knew what and when" are irrelevant. During the debate on this motion last night the Minister spoke for 20 minutes about his tenure and quite incredibly failed to mention that he was involved in decisions which led to the resignation of a Garda Commissioner for only the second time in our history.

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