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

Last Friday, we had the publication of the Guerin report into serious allegations that were made into the handling of various complaints of malpractice within Bailieborough Garda station and related events. Having read the report, it seems clear that the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, resigned as a response to chapters 19 and 20 of that report and the conclusions arrived at, and not just because he wanted to spare any embarrassment to the Government parties in the run-up to the local and European elections. At the centre of those conclusions is the fact that there was no independent investigation of Sergeant Maurice McCabe's complaints and that the Minister has a specific role and function in terms of ordering an independent inquiry into such allegations and did not do so.

In addition, Mr. Guerin makes the point that there is cause for concern as to the adequacy of the investigation of the complaints made by Sergeant McCabe to the Minister. He states that there is sufficient basis for concern as to whether all appropriate steps were taken by the Minister to investigate and address the specified complaints.

There is also the question of the departmental response. In chapters 19 and 20 the report refers strongly to that issue. It states that there was no submission to the Minister by his officials, in particular at times when the exercise of specific statutory functions by the Minister arose. Mr. Guerin said he found it very difficult to find material which demonstrates that the Department identified and understood the significant independent statutory role which the Minister had to perform in respect of these matters.

I also wish to raise the Department of the Taoiseach's response to these issues. As far back as August 2012, Sergeant McCabe e-mailed the Taoiseach and his Department concerning the penalty points dossier. There was also a covering letter about the serious incidents he alleged were occurring in Bailieborough. Nothing happened for months in that regard. Sergeant McCabe was so frustrated with the Department of the Taoiseach that he made a formal complaint to the Department about the lack of a response to the serious issues he was raising. He went further in making a complaint to the Ombudsman.

Taking all three matters together, they refer back to the fundamental conclusion of Mr. Guerin that, in essence and despite the gravity of the complaints that were made, nobody within the Government took them at all seriously. There is a whole of Government response that needs serious analysis and questioning, not just the former Minister for Justice and Equality himself.

Did the Taoiseach ask the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, to resign specifically because of the conclusions in chapters 19 and 20? What are the implications for the Department of Justice and Equality? Has the Taoiseach or the Minister for Justice and Equality discussed the implications of the report with the secretary general of the Department of Justice and Equality, and his response to the report's conclusions in chapters 19 and 20? What about the Taoiseach's response and that of his Department to these allegations? Would he agree that there was total inertia and a lack of any independent analysis or questioning about the response to these issues?

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