Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think that nominating a date for having heard allegations or rumours or hearsay or innuendo would do anything to deal with the central question: Was there or was there not a systematic campaign to smear Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his family? That is the why Mr. Justice O'Neill examined two protected disclosures; why the Cabinet, at the time, decided there should be a commission of investigation; why Mr. Justice O'Neill set out his terms of reference as he did, which covered issues within those protected disclosures, including criminality; and why the Cabinet this morning decided to move beyond that and to have a full scale public inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921. It is because one could not conduct any inquiry without the participation of the McCabe family. We should be discussing what should go into those terms of reference. They should be comprehensive and fair so that they work effectively in the interests of answering that question, which is whether there was a definitive smearing campaign by senior gardaí against Sergeant McCabe. That is what is at stake here.

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