Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It seems that the seriousness of this issue had not permeated the Government. The reputation of the whole system of justice has never been so low, yet the Taoiseach has not bothered to convene a committee on which key players sit and is choosing not to use the forum in question. If the Government is looking after all of this, why is the Taoiseach persisting with the fallacy that it is possible to investigate the most senior garda in the land, while leaving her in situ, with all of her authority, to undermine the investigation?

We had the recent revelations, with Sergeant Maurice McCabe and others being blackguarded. Will the Taoiseach comment on the position of Garda Superintendent Dave Taylor who, having been arrested over leaking information about another Garda scandal four years ago, returned to work on 14 February last only to have a fresh disciplinary case brought against him on the very same matter by the same Commissioner?

It seems Fine Gael is doing its best to defend the Garda Commissioner and keep her in place, with Fianna Fáil seemingly happy to facilitate it in doing so. We are hearing disturbing reports of what gardaí are describing internally as a praetorian guard around the Commissioner. Two retired gardaí have been brought in to protect the Commissioner. Is the Taoiseach aware that a communication has been sent to every single garda who could testify to the Charleton investigation stating that he or she must liaise with the internal committee the Taoiseach was not even told about before testifying to the commission? Was the Taoiseach aware of this or did the Commissioner not bother telling him about it? The Commissioner hired two retired gardaí and did not bother informing the Government about it. She is clearly giving the proverbial two fingers to any idea that she will be neutral while this investigation takes place. I am surprised the Taoiseach has not convened the committee to ask her about this matter.

See this speech in context