Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We will try to avoid a massacre.

Last evening I met Maurice McCabe and his family in his home in Mountnugent.

It is shocking and horrific that any family should have been put through what they have been put through over many years. I read the Tusla file when in Maurice McCabe's home. It is truly shocking. What strikes one is the incredibly casual approach to a monumentally false allegation on the part of the authorities in terms of the fact that the report was left hanging around in Garda stations without being corrected and in terms of the length of time it took for either Tusla or the HSE to deal adequately and properly with it. The lethal aspect of all this is the fact that the report in question was used to fundamentally undermine the integrity of Maurice McCabe. There is no doubt, in my opinion, that there was an attempt and a campaign to undermine the integrity of Maurice McCabe because he was proving to be a major thorn in the side of senior people within An Garda Síochána or on foot of the fact that he was raising issues that have subsequently been vindicated by a commission of investigation.

There is a need - I would like the Taoiseach to confirm this - for a public tribunal of inquiry under the Tribunal of Inquiries Act. Any inquiry cannot be secret. There must be the right of public cross-examination. People may ask why this should be the case. The McCabes made it very clear to me that they will never again engage with an O'Higgins-type process because what they went through in that regard was shocking, with the kitchen sink and all thrown at them by senior counsel representing the Garda Commissioner. The senior counsel said that he would be attacking McCabe's integrity and motivation all the way through the inquiry. He said that his instructions were to challenge the integrity of Sergeant McCabe and his motivation all the way through the inquiry. There was a five-page document prepared by the Chief State Solicitor's office on behalf of the Garda Commissioner. That is why they do not want to be involved in a similar exercise again under any circumstances. They want a public inquiry, Taoiseach. I know that Deputy O'Callaghan, who has acted in good faith throughout this situation, has sent out draft terms of reference for such an inquiry, which must include events at the O'Higgins commission of investigation that were designed to entrap Sergeant McCabe. Had he not had the tape recording of the Mullingar meeting, God knows where this would have ended up. That has to be investigated. I want confirmation from the Taoiseach that the Government is agreeable to including events at the O'Higgins commission of investigation in the terms of reference and that it is agreeing to a tribunal of inquiry.

See this speech in context