Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Toland report, published in 2014, followed much of the same kind of controversies which An Garda Síochána and the Department found themselves in at that stage. The report found there to be a closed, secretive and silo-driven culture and that there was a deferential relationship with An Garda Síochána, with a lack of proper strategic accountability being brought to bear on it by the Department. Unfortunately, the developments of recent months confirm that is still very much the case. The revelations were extraordinary.

The Minister has outlined that there are many committed staff. However, there are still issues with culture and structure, something which became apparent following the developments of recent weeks. I do not find it credible that the emails which were the source of so much controversy were not found by the scoping exercise carried out by Iarfhlaith O'Neill or the discovery order from Charleton. I find extraordinary that the email which was discovered on 9 November was only brought to the attention of the Minister on 13 November and read much later. In the context of the culture and the Department, is it acceptable that the Department allowed the Taoiseach to put the wrong information on the Dáil record three times over the course of scarcely a week?

See this speech in context