Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today, the criminal justice system has, effectively, collapsed under the Taoiseach's watch. Fine Gael has held the Department of Justice, in an unbroken manner, for 12 years. Today, the criminal courts are not sitting because criminal barristers have withdrawn their labour. This was notified to the Government on 12 July. Fine Gael has nobody else to blame because it holds the Ministry of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform and the Ministry of Justice.

The Government was notified on 12 July that the courts would not sit on 3 October because of a dispute around barristers' pay. Going back to May, a sexual assault case almost collapsed because of the lack of a senior counsel. Why are the Government parties collectively bystanders as the criminal justice system falls, almost in its entirety, today ? What has the Government done since 12 July to try to resolve that dispute?

On the same day, the Garda Síochána is effectively working to rule. Gardaí will be doing it every Tuesday this month, including Hallowe'en. I do not have to tell the Taoiseach that if we go to any community meeting anywhere in Dublin or across the country and we tell them that there will be a restricted Garda service on the night of Hallowe'en, the communities would understandably be concerned about that. What has the Government done? What has the Minister done to ensure that this dispute can be resolved? She stated it is not under her jurisdiction; she cannot get involved. However, that is not so, because I took it upon myself, on behalf of the Labour Party, to write to the Policing Authority last week because Garda rostering is essentially an issue of managing and deploying Garda resources and, therefore, it falls under the remit of the authority. Under section 62H of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, "the Authority may do anything which it considers necessary or expedient to enable it to perform its functions ...". Under section 62O, "The Minister may request the Authority to prepare and submit to ... her a report in respect of any matter relating to policing services [including rosters], and the Authority shall comply with the request as soon as practicable after receiving it."

Criminal barristers are effectively on strike because the Government has done nothing since 12 July. The Policing Authority is effectively not being asked to have any view in the rostering dispute. This is completely and entirely the Taoiseach's fault. It cannot blame anybody else. What is the Taoiseach going to do about it?

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