Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Deputy O'Callaghan said, it is important to look at how the future legislative framework is structured in the context of the new and different policing framework that we have. There is the Policing Authority, the Garda Inspectorate, GSOC and senior management in the force. We need to listen to what the AGSI has said about the number of bodies and agencies with which it is dealing. It is important that the commission will be able to look at the overall architecture of the Garda institutions to see how best the AGSI can interact with those institutions.

As we know, the Fennelly report looked back, from a historical perspective, at recordings that were illegal and unlawful. It is important that the Government addresses that legislative lacuna and ensures, as others have said, that this becomes a lawful practice.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Fitzgerald, mentioned that the Attorney General has a difficult job and has been criticised. This issue is not about personalising matters, nor is it about praising the Attorney General. It is important to recognise the mistake made by the Attorney General and the alarmist nature of her actions. That is reflected in the report and cannot be ignored. The Attorney General holds an important legal office in this State and she failed to bring the knowledge given to her to the attention of the Taoiseach in a speedy manner. The Tánaiste mentioned how, during their interactions, the Attorney General offered proper advice and wisdom. I am sure that is the case. However, the previous Minister for Justice and Equality was not informed about this matter by the Attorney General. Both he and the Department of Justice and Equality were ignored. The interaction between the previous Minister and the Attorney General did not live up to the words the Tánaiste has used.

We need to go through the timeline again. If one looks at the timeline, one can see why this matter gave rise to alarm on the part of the Attorney General and why it became an immediate problem for her. She received information in October and it took her a number of months to inform the Taoiseach. That flurry of events led to the resignation of the then Garda Commissioner. While the Taoiseach reiterated that he did not sack the former Commissioner, the interim Fennelly report says that the actions of the Taoiseach were a catalyst for the resignation. We need to look at the definition of the word "catalyst". In science, it is a substance that causes a chemical reaction to occur but is not involved in the act. In this case, the Taoiseach was the substance, the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality caused the act and the former Commissioner resigned.

The former Commissioner acted prudently in giving the advice and knowledge to the Attorney General. Unfortunately, the person who acted properly got the sack even though it was the lack of action on the part of the Office of the Attorney General which resulted in the alarmist and unfortunate move by the Taoiseach's office. That move has legal implications under the An Garda Síochána Act. The Government was not consulted and that must be addressed in the context of this report.

The commission needs to look at the overall recommendations over 30 years. The Government needs to address the legislative lacuna and provide a factual account of what happened rather, than using words such as "catalyst" when we know that there was a central involvement at the top levels of Government in the subsequent resignation of the former Commissioner who did the right thing at the time. That is very unfortunate.

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