Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to use a few minutes of the time to refer to the report and to many of the fine contributions to this debate. My party has already welcomed the O'Higgins report into alleged Garda malpractice. I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, the very best in her new role. It is not justice, but I know she is assigned to an important area and I am sure she will be very concerned about this debate and all that is being said.

It is quite clear from the report that Sergeant McCabe was impressive, truthful and, as the report stated, a dedicated member of An Garda Síochána. In respect of the report, it is extremely important that we get its suggestions implemented. We have to remind ourselves that we are talking about the Garda Síochána, the police force of the country. In any country, what is needed most of all is a genuine, upfront and well looked after police force. That is why I think every Member of this Chamber, all 158, has a major responsibility and duty in this House to address this issue, maybe not on political point-scoring, but certainly in respect of righting the things that are wrong in our Garda Síochána at the moment.

There are issues of concern in respect of the transcripts. If one reads the O'Higgins commission report - I have not read it all - it appears to indicate that counsel for the Garda Commissioner was questioning the credibility and motivation of the whistleblower, Sergeant Maurice McCabe. If that is so, it is outrageous and unacceptable. This is the type of thing we must bring to an end in our Garda force, if it is happening. As my party colleague said a few moments ago, there are a number of situations that have arisen over the years and that probably need investigation. He mentioned the Fr. Molloy case, which concerns a man from my own county of Roscommon, and the Mary Boyle case, along with others. It would be fair to say that the public is concerned. While people have great respect for the Garda Síochána, they would like to see all those matters cleared up and put to bed once and for all.

The leaking of the report causes me great concern and I am sure many Members are concerned about it. We need to look at a total overhaul of the Department of Justice and Equality. I get the impression, as a new Member of this House, that we are limping along and that there are many matters that need to be tackled. In respect of the Garda Síochána, there is the issue of credibility in certain situations. There is also the issue of pay and conditions for many members of An Garda Síochána, as all Members of this House well know. Many of them are struggling. Going back to what I said earlier, one of the most important ingredients for a successful and peaceful country is a good police force and, in general, we have a very good police force. However, I am concerned that many of them are now under a great deal of pressure because of pay and conditions and, maybe in some situations, because of intimidation. During her speech, Deputy Róisín Shortall was somewhat critical of Fianna Fáil and its stance on this issue, but I reject that totally. We have contributed to all the debates. Our justice spokesperson, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, has been on a number of radio and television stations and has openly spoken to the media about this situation. Indeed, many members of this party have spoken on the issue and about their concerns regarding particular situations.

It is so important that our police force is beyond reproach. It is also so important that we look after them, take care of them and ensure they are all treated with respect and dignity. On the other side of that, it is extremely important that any situations that need to be investigated are investigated by the Department of Justice and Equality. I hope the Minister will take on board many of the comments and suggestions that have been made here.

The report vindicated both the former Minister, Alan Shatter, and the former Garda Commissioner, Martin Callinan, in relation to the events being investigated by the commission. However, our party maintains that Alan Shatter's position as Minister for Justice and Equality was untenable at least a year before his actual resignation in May 2014. In 2013, he abused his position as Minister for Justice and Equality when he used private information conveyed to him in confidence by the Garda Commissioner to score political points against an Opposition Deputy. We should not forget that the then Minister, by his own admission, misled the Dáil in 2013 when he said that whistleblowers did not co-operate with Garda investigations.

One could say there are whistleblowers and there are whistleblowers. Every whistleblower has an entitlement to have his or her complaints investigated. That does not mean a whistleblower's allegations can be accepted immediately or deemed straight away to be true, but the benefit of a commission of investigation is that it can test all those allegations from whistleblowers and come out with the truth.

The Garda is important to us. Its members do tremendous work. We see at the moment what they have to deal with in terms of crime in Dublin city, with murderous gangs. It is a very difficult situation for them and there are many other issues elsewhere in the country. In general, the Garda does a very good job and we want to look after our police force, but we also need to investigate the issues that need to be investigated and cleared up once and for all in order that all of our people have faith and belief in the Garda Síochána. It is up to every Member of this Dáil to make a valuable contribution to this debate, because our police force is about us all and we are all about our police force.

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