Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing my time with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.

It is clear from this debate this evening that if the Garda Commissioner remains in her post for the next period, it will be in large measure courtesy of the Fianna Fáil Party. It is true that those who have the power to remove the Commissioner are the members of the Cabinet but the reality is that if this House were to have voted to express no confidence in the Commissioner, she would have lost not only the confidence of the people of this country, whom I believe have no confidence in her, but also the confidence of the majority in the House. There would be unstoppable pressure on her to go which the Government would be unable to withstand. That would happen. It is courtesy of Fianna Fáil that she remains in place.

Scandal after scandal has occurred. How many does it take? There was the McCabe scandal and that of the other whistleblowers. There were nearly 1 million dodgy breathalyser tests. Nearly 15,000 people were falsely convicted. There is a new issue that needs to be focused on, that is, the establishment by the Commissioner of a liaison group or unit within the Garda. The idea is that gardaí who wish to contact and speak before the Charleton tribunal would contact that liaison group first. It comprises two retired gardaí appointed by the Commissioner. The fact that a circular has been sent to every member of the force saying that if he or she wants to contact the Charleton inquiry, he or she should go through the liaison group and should contact it first. That has to have a chilling effect. If someone wanted to give evidence or information to a tribunal that might not be good news for the Commissioner, his or her having to go through the liaison group appointed by the Commissioner would be completely inappropriate. It underlines the argument made from these benches in recent debates that leaving the Commissioner in her position while the tribunal takes place undermines the workings of the tribunal itself. What does Fianna Fáil have to say about that?

Cabinet members have briefed the press to say there is a feeling in the Cabinet that public confidence has been shattered in An Garda Síochána. Questions are being asked about the broader justice system also. Imagine an attempt in a city of 1 million people to exclude hundreds of thousands from a jury. Imagine an attempt to exclude the entire population of one area, an area equivalent to the size of Galway, from serving on a jury. Imagine an attempt to exclude from a jury anyone who had expressed an opinion in social media on the biggest topic of debate in society in the past three years. That is precisely what the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is attempting to do in regard to the trial of seven defendants charged with false imprisonment, that is, kidnapping, of the former Tánaiste at Jobstown in Tallaght in 2014.

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