Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach's commitment that there will be funding for Garda overtime. I am however very disappointed at the way he has handled the recent revelations about the dysfunction at the heart of our justice system. His Government refused to take appropriate actions which would have avoided all of the recent difficulties, not least for Sergeant Maurice McCabe and his family. In many ways the Taoiseach repeated the mistakes which Deputy Enda Kenny made when he was Taoiseach.

The Taoiseach will recall the fatal shooting of Garda Tony Golden, the serious wounding of Siobhán Phillips and the death by suicide of Crevan Mackin in Omeath on 11 October 2015. Crevan Mackin was arrested for possession of weapons and explosives and admitted to such possession. He was released without being charged with theses offences, despite some detectives knowing that he had access to four other weapons. It is believed he used one of these weapons to murder Garda Tony Golden and seriously wound Ms Phillips, whom he had also brutally beaten, before killing himself. In October 2015 I gave a file on these matters to the then Taoiseach, Deputy Kenny, and the then Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald. I wrote to Deputy Kenny four times. I spoke to him directly on a number of occasions. I wrote to Deputy Fitzgerald eight times. I also spoke to her. I gave information to the senior Garda officer investigating the case and I wrote to GSOC. When Deputy Varadkar took over as Taoiseach I sent the same file to him. Like Deputy Kenny, the Taoiseach gave me no substantive response until I raised the issue with him here. The Minister, Deputy Charles Flanagan, has yet to reply to me. When I asked him informally about this case he said there was something seriously wrong and he committed to meeting with me. He has yet to do so.

The answer I received from the previous Taoiseach, from Deputy Varadkar and from the Minister for Justice and Equality is that an investigation and review of these tragic events is ongoing. There are no other suspects. There are no other lines of inquiry. The real issue is that Crevan Mackin was arrested for the possession of weapons and explosives and admitted to that. He was released without being charged with these offences despite some detectives knowing he had access to four other weapons. He used one of these weapons to murder Garda Tony Golden and injure Siobhán Phillips. It is not enough to say that processes are ongoing. This is about accountability or in this case, once again, the lack of accountability. I ask the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice and Equality to speak to the acting Garda Commissioner as a matter of urgency. If the Taoiseach has read this file he will know the questions he should ask of the acting Garda Commissioner. I ask the Taoiseach to meet with the family of Siobhán Phillips and to establish a public inquiry as the family has requested.

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