Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if I will be around for the debate on the report but I asked the Minister what actions he plans to take in respect of accountability and transparency in An Garda Síochána on foot of this report. I am sure the Minister has given the matter some thought, as I and many political activists have. As Mr. Justice Charleton pointed out, the improvement "that is most needed in our police force is adherence to honesty and adherence to the duty to do a full and hard day of work in the service of the people of Ireland." He also noted that a "country with an undisciplined police force is at risk from that police force." It is hard to believe in parts of the report, including the theory of a bizarre error and mistakes between the Garda and Tusla, as if this was a set of coincidences rather than the co-operation of rogues within the public service. As was said, that is "an appalling vista", a term used by Lord Denning in the case of the Birmingham Six when he convicted them.

To do otherwise would have meant that the police, the state and all the arms of the state were guilty, as we subsequently found out, with those men wrongly serving 15 years in jail. I do not think we can accept that there are bizarre coincidences and errors to explain events in this matter and it needs further investigation.

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