Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, the Taoiseach confessed that he went on national television, gave an inaccurate account and that he never actually had a conversation with a Minister. It was false memory syndrome, as psychologists call it. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality also had another problematic conversation with another Deputy. He had one version and she had another. It is not lies; rather, it is just alternative facts.

If this country had even a pretence of being a bourgeoisie democracy the Taoiseach and Tánaiste would be gone and an election would be called. That does not happen in the Irish State because we are more akin to a banana republic this week. The rotten nature of the Irish State has been exposed. The lid has been lifted and it seems that Fianna Fáil wants to press the lid on the can of worms back down.

The allegation is that the top garda in this country may have encouraged and taken part in black propaganda against a garda who spoke out against corruption, that there may be allies of An Garda Síochána working in State agencies who will assist it in planting information against such gardaí or other people the Garda does not like and that top gardaí routinely leak information to journalists who act as a propaganda arm for the Garda on many occasions. This has repercussions for what we have seen in recent times regarding the policing of working-class communities, in particular the anti-water charges campaign. Similar black propaganda was used against protesters in Jobstown and the Commissioner's husband heads up Operation Mizen, which is investigating water charge protesters.

The State, police and courts ultimately act in the interests of the status quo. They will act to defend the wealth and the economic and political system of the 1%. It is impossible to see how there could be a healthy culture as long as that remains the case. The Garda needs to be opened up to democratic community accountability. What is being proposed here is shambolic.

See this speech in context