Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As it is International Women's Day, I genuinely welcome the diligence with which the Government is prioritising the referendum on repeal. I am sorry that it has not had the same diligence bringing forward mandatory inquests in relation to maternal deaths.

As it is International Women's Day and the Tánaiste did not answer Deputy Michael McGrath's points about the powerful, explosive testimony given at the Joint Committee on Justice and Equality yesterday by those two outstanding women, I will return to some of those points. The Tánaiste talks about evidence and facts if people were bullied. These are not points of dispute. The facts and the evidence are in the testimony of those women which should be compulsory reading for every Member in this House. Over a period of 15 months, these consummate professionals, analysts and forensic scientists, have found the workplace a very difficult place. Only their mutual support got them through it. Under severe pressure and their integrity undermined, they were belittled and treated poorly, and all this in our newly reformed An Garda Síochána where we are told we welcome our critical friends. I think not. What was the crime of these women? They had the audacity to refuse to sign off on a report presented to the Policing Authority regarding a review of domestic homicides which had been commissioned by them. This was a review which, contrary to what gardaí told the Policing Authority that it revealed minor misclassifications, actually uncovered significant inconsistencies of a grave nature with many ramifications regarding the ability of An Garda Síochána to protect and serve, for example, cases where the partner of a deceased person was in a new domestic violence relationship. Let us remember that this happened a couple of months ago against the backdrop where the majority of homicides in 2017 were domestic murders and where misclassification and a signal not followed could be the difference between life and death.

How many more Garda scandals will this Government take before it will hold someone to account? The Tánaiste waffles on about oversight bodies and the Policing Authority. We went to the last Policing Authority body. Is the Tánaiste unaware that it is now irrefutable that senior gardaí lied and misled the Policing Authority at its April and June meetings? Not only that but these women went to the Policing Authority with their queries, the Policing Authority knew there were problems and not alone did it not respond to them, but it went back to its bosses and ratted them out. Can the Tánaiste imagine the chilling effect on these two powerful women? They read in the media about a Policing Authority there for oversight, they went to it with their genuine problems and tried to make their case and not only were they not heard, but the people to whom they approached told their bosses. What is the Minister for Justice doing? Is he calling a meeting with the acting Garda Commissioner or the Policing Authority? Does the Tánaiste think that it is okay to lie, bully and isolate people? If he does not, who will he call to account?

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