Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Does the Tánaiste think it is necessary for senior Garda management, particularly the Garda Commissioner, to enjoy the confidence of the public in order for that Commissioner and management to function effectively? It seems to me that has to be the case. If it is not the case that person is not suitable. Can the Tánaiste honestly tell us with a straight face that the public has confidence in Nóirín O'Sullivan? Is it not the case that, if there is even a whit of truth in the fact that she was involved in a smear campaign against Maurice McCabe, that she is trying to go after Dave Taylor because he blew the whistle or that she failed to act on a culture that could produce 14,700 wrongful convictions and 937,000 fake breath tests, she has to go and heads have to roll right across the board? If that is a possibility – and it is one without prejudging it – can the Tánaiste seriously suggest the public can have confidence while she remains in position?

As an extension of that question, we have suggested that Nóirín O'Sullivan be suspended without prejudice since the Maurice McCabe affair. We suggested that was normal practice for public and civil servants. The Tánaiste disputed that when I suggested it a few weeks ago. I then asked in a parliamentary question how many people under the Tánaiste's remit had been suspended without prejudice on full pay and discovered that there were 26. That is the highest number of any Department. Subsequently I asked were they in the Garda or where were they, and despite the normal practice of answering a parliamentary question within four days I received an answer to the effect that the Tánaiste could not answer the question. I suspect a lot of those people who have been suspended on full pay, without prejudice pending investigations are in the Garda. That however does not apply to Nóirín O'Sullivan. Is there one law for Nóirín O'Sullivan and another one for people under the remit of the Department of Justice and Equality and in the Garda?

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