Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

This person was terrified to come forward for obvious reasons, given that, in the past, John Wilson, for example, who is sitting in the Visitors Gallery, had a rat hung on his door for doing the right thing. Today, I was hoping the Taoiseach might give a little bit of encouragement. The bigger issue is not the individual case but the fact that no one can have confidence in GSOC so long as serving members of the Garda Síochána are operating within it. That was the issue I wanted to raise today. However, the Taoiseach belittles and makes a joke out of being followed by an unmarked car with two obviously identifiable police officers. When he is going to do something about this?

The Taoiseach needs to deal with this quickly because people are losing faith in what they have to have faith in, namely the Garda Síochána. Whether it is my wife or my children, if something happens we have to go to the Garda and trust it. At the moment, that trust is not on the floor but below it. The Taoiseach needs to deal with this seriously. The one thing I was certain about today was that he would not answer my question because he has never answered a question since I came in here. Can he try and make it a first? Will he tell me and the people that he is going to do something about this issue? After that incident today, the man in question was not terrified anymore, he was quivering. He was on the verge of breaking down. I bring it up here but you make a joke out of it. You are a disgrace.

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