Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last week during Leader's Questions the Tánaiste told the Dáil that a statement from the Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan would be forthcoming to clarify matters arising from the O'Higgins commission. Thus far there has been no clarification from the Garda Commissioner or the Minister. In my questions to the Tánaiste I made the case that the Minister for Justice was the line manager of the Garda Commissioner and the Minister was accountable to the Dáil. I asked her if she had spoken to the Garda Commissioner about what instructions she gave to her legal team about Sergeant Maurice McCabe. I also asked the Tánaiste if two senior officers had claimed that Sergeant McCabe had told them that he had acted with malice in raising issues of Garda malpractice in Cavan Monaghan. The Tánaiste refused to answer those questions. According to press reports the Tánaiste also said at the weekend that the Commissioner would clarify the controversy in her own time. If that is an accurate account of the Tánaiste's comments it is not acceptable.

Today's killing of Gareth Hutch is to be condemned like the other murders. I attended a community vigil in the north inner city last week and these events, the scale of the illegal drug trade and the neglect of these neighbourhoods are a tragic reminder of our solemn obligation to ensure that communities victimised by criminality have the very best policing service in order to safeguard and uphold their rights. Citizens of this State, An Garda Síochána itself, and in particular victims of serious crimes, deserve this. The Opposition, as an Taoiseach knows, has a duty to uphold and to hold the Government to account. Government Ministers have a duty to answer questions put to them by the Opposition-----

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