Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As I said to the Minister, a number of people, at least two, Dave Mooney and Joey O'Callaghan, contacted me and gave me their permission. Both of them have told me they do not have criminal backgrounds or history and participated in the scheme for the right reasons, to give evidence to convict people who were involved in criminality. Their central argument is that what they say was agreed with the witness protection programme but the support offered to them after they had fulfilled their side of the agreement was not upheld by the State. Unfortunately, they have had to engage with GSOC and their solicitor, Kieran Kelly, and I find much of what they told me disturbing.

Joey O'Callaghan sought a meeting with the Minister and it is a matter for her whether she can meet him. At the very least, would the Minister consider asking the Garda Inspectorate to carry out a review of the witness protection programme to see how it is operating? In the Minister's reply, she has told us it was operating at a high level within the Garda Síochána. In a reply to a parliamentary question, the Minister told me the witness protection programme costs approximately €700,000 per annum. Could the Comptroller and Auditor General undertake a value for money review to see where the spend is going? Some of what these people have told me about how moneys have been spent should ring alarm bells within the Minister's Department.

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