Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The events that have led us to this point have exposed society in a way few other issues could have done. All of this began with the relatively low-key efforts of a decent man who wanted to highlight wrongdoing in our police force. That the situation has been allowed to escalate to a point where we are once again establishing a tribunal of inquiry is astonishing. The series of events have been a squalid affair. A man and his family have been subjected to a campaign of utterly false and damaging allegations. As my colleague, Deputy Alan Kelly, and others have highlighted, it appears he is not the only one to have been subjected to such a campaign.

Public confidence in An Garda Síochána has once more been undermined. The very many honourable men and women working in An Garda Síochána to keep our society safe have had the integrity of their work undermined. A new agency created to better protect the children of Ireland from harm has had its reputation sullied. Questions once more arise as to how Ireland works to keep our children safe. These events are really damaging. They reveal dysfunction and worse that reaches across the fundamental pillars of a functioning State. Two of the most important institutions required to keep our people safe are damaged and the contagion has spread far beyond those bodies. Public administration, politics and the media have all been called into serious question.

Here we are once more creating a tribunal of inquiry. We could recite off the list of reforming legislation passed in recent years, much of it promoted by my party to restore public confidence in this country and its institutions. Those of us with long enough experience might wonder realistically what impact the legislation has made. We might wonder whether we have learned anything at all about real implementation of effective systems to ensure openness and accountability in the conduct of public life. This is Groundhog Day as much of what we have witnessed will bring us all back to other events. What is required is deep introspection from us all as to what it says about aspects of society.

I remember the Fianna Fáil and Progressive Democrats tribunals of inquiry Bill referenced by previous speakers. It was described as a consolidation and reforming measure with a view to putting in place a modern comprehensive statutory framework governing all aspects of a tribunal from the time of its establishment to the publication of the final report. What was most important was that the Bill, if passed into law, would have enabled the Government, with the approval of the Houses, to dissolve a tribunal and wind up its inquiry before it was completed. The then Minister, of course, was right to complain about spiralling costs, but the motivation at that time was to give power to the House and its majority Government to collapse inquiries. The then Minister was entitled to say that at some stage we have to ask ourselves whether it is worthwhile proceeding any further in the circumstances and that we cannot go on forever, but the upshot of it was that when the Bill collapsed we lost the opportunity to control legal costs properly and properly punish time wasting and non-co-operation by witnesses under investigation. I agree with the views of others that we need to revisit the Bill, but not the motivation, in my judgment, of the part of it that wanted to collapse inquiries midstream. Legitimate concerns have been raised about costs. Some of these have been overstated. The commission of investigation model was intended to be a cheaper option, with a greatly reduced role for legal counsel. In reality, as we saw in the O'Higgins commission, multiple teams of lawyers were often present.

I thank the Tánaiste for meeting me yesterday and for producing terms of reference which I believe encompass the issues I have raised. I wish Mr. Justice Charleton well. I hope his ambition to complete his work within the reasonable timeframe he has set out becomes a reality. The functioning of our State requires this. I expect his investigation will deliver a vindication to people whom the State has maligned. In darkness and shadows campaigns of vilification have been conducted. Perhaps the most important aspect of what we debate here today is that Mr. Justice Charleton will carry out his work in the clear light of day.

I have a question for the Tánaiste to which I hope she can respond. Will she confirm to the House that she has already issued or, if not, that she will issue later today a directive to the Garda Commissioner under section 25 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to secure the preservation of all Garda records and equipment that may well be relevant to the inquiry and safeguard all evidence? As we embark upon yet another inquiry into An Garda Síochána, I hope truly meaningful reforms and, what is more important, cultural change will finally begin to take root.

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