Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I do. The comments made by Deputy Martin are quite extraordinary. He would attack an officer of the State who is not here to respond. The Attorney General is adviser to the Government. She became aware of matters that she could not have known about, nor did anybody else know, or the extent of them. These were quite serious matters and she acted quite appropriately and properly in bringing them to my attention as Taoiseach.

In consideration of that, the first interim report of the Fennelly commission on a sworn inquiry dealt with some of the matters raised by Deputy Martin. The interim report of the Fennelly commission, and I thank Mr. Justice Fennelly for the work he has put into it, was very clear in its findings that I had no intention of forcing the resignation of the former Garda Commissioner and that the former Commissioner himself had decided to retire.

The second element of the Fennelly commission deals with the issue raised by Deputy Martin with regard to the Attorney General of our State. She had brought to my attention a very serious issue about the unlawful recording of telephone calls to Garda stations. Once again, I thank Mr. Justice Fennelly for the work he did in this. He says in his findings that these recordings were unlawful and unconstitutional, and that there was a lack of effective oversight and procedures within An Garda Síochána over a very lengthy period, including in regard to the content of certain telephone calls relating to the investigation of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier.

These are the reasons the Attorney General was quite justified in bringing the issue to my attention and why we were quite justified in putting together a commission of investigation to find out the answers to those questions. I am very glad to note that no case before the courts or pending in the courts was in any way compromised by this situation. The findings, however, are clear. The matter was unlawful, unconstitutional and went on for a very great length of time and it did not interfere with any case pending or before the courts.

On the second report of the Fennelly commission, I was notified of this by the commission by close-off date on Friday at 6 p.m. As is my responsibility, I sent that to the Attorney General for her analysis and examination. She reported to me, in writing, that it was in order to publish the Fennelly report, which I did within 12 to 14 hours. It is now part of the overall consideration of the root and branch analysis of An Garda Síochána, which Government has agreed to and has decided to do. It will wish to have the views of the Opposition leaders and the Opposition parties.

In respect of the findings in the second report by Fennelly, the Minister has decided to refer the report to the Policing Authority, oversee the implementation of the recommendations in the context of the oversight of An Garda Síochána, examine the need for legislation in the context of the recording of calls; and refer matters relating to the Bailey case and dealt with in the report to GSOC to consider whether it believes that any further investigation is necessary against the background of the investigation that it has already been carrying out into this case. The Attorney General is quite justified in her actions.

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