Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It has been a very difficult week for the Tánaiste and on behalf of Fianna Fáil I would like to extend best wishes to him and his family. Politics is a tough business. It has been a hard few days and we wish the Tánaiste well personally. I know he is not retiring from politics per se.

The Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality, Brian Purcell, appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality yesterday. Unfortunately, he would not and did not answer any questions surrounding the events of the departure of the former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan. In effect, both Mr. Purcell and the Taoiseach are now hiding behind the Fennelly commission. This is treating the Oireachtas and the public with disdain. There is no legal obstacle as to why Mr. Purcell could not have come before the committee yesterday and answered questions about Martin Callinan's departure. Similarly, there is no legal obstacle as to why the Taoiseach could not answer questions here yesterday on his role in that departure.

Following the resignation of the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, we heard much about a cultural sea change we would see in the area of justice and about new openness and transparency. It appears that all of that now amounts to little more than a hill of beans. We are not seeing any evidence of that type of change whatsoever. We have a farcical situation where the new Minister for Justice and Equality is not in a position to express confidence in her Secretary General. In what company would it be acceptable for a CEO to say she could not say whether she had confidence in the head of operations? This is not a tenable situation and it must be addressed.

We still have no answer to the fundamental question as to why the Taoiseach dispatched Brian Purcell to the house of Martin Callinan to do his dirty work for him and, effectively, deliver a P45. Why did that happen? We still have no answer to that question. We read in today's Irish Independentthat Sergeant Maurice McCabe has been forced out of work on sick leave and has lodged 13 separate complaints pertaining to bullying and harassment. If that is true, it does not represent much of a sea-change or cultural shift. Following everything that has happened, if it is true that this is how he is being treated, is it not a damning indictment of the State at this time? Why is it the Acting Commissioner, Noirín O'Sullivan, said yesterday at the committee that senior managers were in contact on a daily basis with Sergeant Maurice McCabe, but we hear the complete opposite from sources very close to him? We need answers to that question.

Does the Tánaiste accept there are no legal obstacles preventing the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality, Brian Purcell, or the Taoiseach from giving this House or a parliamentary committee a full explanation of the circumstances that led to the forced resignation of the former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan?

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