Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Nicky Keogh wrote to the Minister four times and she replied once. When he told the Minister about the harassment and that he could not have been suffering without the Commissioner's knowledge, the Minister wrote back to him to say she was looking for an urgent report from the Garda Commissioner. That was May this year. The Minister says she follows things up quickly. May was a long time ago. For over two years Deputy Clare Daly and I have been telling the Minister about huge problems that are not being addressed. It is over two years. How in God's name can the Minister say she is dealing with these matters? She talks about a rush to judgment but it has been two years. She says the claim is not properly tested. The Minister has the transcript from the O'Higgins report hearing in her office. Is there not enough information in it? Was it not properly tested? What about the role the Commissioner played in trying to undermine the credibility of Maurice McCabe? Is there not enough in that for the Minister? She is talking about people disposing of the laws of the land. God bless us. How bad is it if any of what arrived on the Minister's desk last Monday is true? I am not easily shocked. I have spent my life living in the real world and I know how bad things can be out there. I have not seen the like of it. It is horrific and mind-numbing.

Deputy Clare Daly and I met the two senior gardaí who made the protected disclosures. We have not breached the protected disclosures. We sat down and listened to them face to face. I will not talk about it anymore.

The Minister is talking about another inquiry and another judge.

The Tánaiste talks about the new broom she has brought in. Nothing has changed, Minister, nothing. We marked her cards for her on her legislation on the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC, and the Policing Authority. We had Ms Justice Mary Ellen Ring and Josephine Feehily stressing the lack of authority they have in legislation to do their jobs properly.

The Garda is in turmoil. There is a split in it with two camps. The Garda Commissioner has promoted a ring around her. It is corrosive. She is doing so much damage to An Garda Síochána that there are many good gardaí shocked at how she is operating. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality cannot leave her in position.

See this speech in context