Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The charges that have been laid at the Garda Commissioner's door are incredibly serious. The Government has acknowledged this in making the decision to establish a commission of investigation to be chaired by Mr. Justice Peter Charleton. It is quite unusual for the Government to have made a decision to establish a commission of investigation without consultation with the Opposition parties. We have not been furnished with a copy of Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill's report, even in redacted form, although it was delivered to the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality more than two months ago, nor have we been consulted on the terms of reference for the commission. I do not know if Fianna Fáil, the Taoiseach's partner in Government, has received advance copies but the rest of the Members on the Opposition benches have not. This is not good enough.

I presume the Government will make time available for a full debate on the terms of reference, but in the meantime, the fact the Garda Commissioner remains on active duty is troubling. I cannot think of another walk of life where, if allegations of this nature had been made against a person in a position of power, he or she would not be placed on administrative leave until the outcome of the investigation is known. This would be true of a school principal or even a shop manager. That it is not true for the head of An Garda Síochána is troubling. In this case the allegations are serious enough to warrant a commission of investigation. While some argument could be made for leaving the Garda Commissioner in place while Mr. Justice O'Neill carried out his initial investigation, I do not believe it is appropriate for as long as the formal commission of investigation is under way.

This morning a journalist contacted me and told me they had direct knowledge of calls made by the Garda Commissioner to journalists during 2013 and 2014 in the course of which the Commissioner made very serious allegations of sexual crimes having been committed by Sergeant Maurice McCabe. In 2015, the Garda Commissioner oversaw the investigation which examined the call logs of a Garda officer who was under suspicion of leaking material to the media. If it was a fact that the Garda Commissioner was in direct contact with the media making allegations against one of her own officers at around the same time, it would be quite extraordinary. I do not know whether the charges that have been made against the Garda Commissioner are true or not.

See this speech in context