Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to summarise some of the points that have been made. It is important to put the matter in context while we are discussing this motion of no confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality. We need only think back a short period when the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, made his public comments at a road safety conference. He said that the whistleblowers were distinguished. Not long before that the Minister for Justice and Equality had been asked on numerous occasions to withdraw his remarks on non-co-operation in the O'Mahoney investigation. The Commissioner was under pressure given his use of the word "disgusting" at the Committee of Public Accounts meeting.

What happened was that the Garda Commissioner was minded to withdraw the "disgusting" remark made at the Committee of Public Accounts meeting but he was advised by the Department of Justice and Equality that this would not be the best course of action. I am keen to know whether the Minister ever advised the Commissioner on whether he should withdraw the remark. Did the Minister ever have a conversation with the Commissioner about this particular issue with regard to his performance at the Committee of Public Accounts? They were tied to the hip on this particular issue.

Not only were the Minister and the Commissioner tied to the hip on the issue of the whistleblowers, but that was also the case on the issue of GSOC and a number of incidents that came to the public's attention over a period of time.

It is amazing that consistent briefings from sources close to Government and even some Ministers, which appeared again on the front page of The Irish Timestoday, have accused An Garda Síochána of perverting the course of justice and destroying evidence, namely, the tapes. Even the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, made this allusion last week. To try to save the Minister's skin, the Government has decided to denigrate the position of the Garda Commissioner.

The timelines are critical, as are the process and the question of why the Minister was not consulted, but a definite fact is that the Taoiseach was informed on the Sunday night of problems regarding a particular case that would have broader implications. He decided to act because he knew that the political pressure had become almost unbearable and that some head needed to fall. The Attorney General was implicated. She was not only consulted by departmental officials, but also by the Garda Commissioner, who informed her of the issue of the tapes last November. If not, then the Dáil has been misled in recent days by the leader of the Minister's party, the Taoiseach. The Attorney General was informed last November, a working group was established within An Garda Síochána and there were constant discussions between the Garda and officials in the Minister's Department.

The Minister has made many claims about his ability. He sent out a 53-page document on his achievements. I am beginning to think that if he sent out a list of his failures, it would be even longer. He has undermined any credibility in the notion that a Minister should take responsibility and accept that if he or she has done wrong or acted in a way unbefitting of the office, he or she should resign honourably.

The bottom line is that the Minister has consistently undermined the whistleblowers and two Deputies for cheap political gain. He must get up every morning, look himself in the mirror and decide whether the Garda Commissioner was sacrificed to keep the Government intact. The Labour Party, which is consistently absent when issues of confidence in the Minister are being discussed, knew full well that, if it came-----

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