Dáil debates

Wednesday, 22 May 2013

10:30 am

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The statement by the Minister for Justice and Equality last evening left many people very disappointed and left many more questions to be answered. He succeeded in dragging the Garda Commissioner into this debacle, claiming that it was through a casual aside that he learned of the information about Deputy Wallace, although earlier in the week, he had said it was an official briefing or that he was advised. He failed, however, to explain how such a minor incident involving a Deputy could find its way up to the Commissioner's desk, despite the fact that it was not even recorded on the PULSE system and, furthermore, why the Commissioner felt it necessary to pass that information on to him. The crucial issue remains as to why the Minister decided to utilise that information in a political debate to undermine a political opponent.

His non-apology was an insult and it missed the point. Deputy Wallace may be entitled to a personal apology but the issue is much wider than that. It is about the abuse of private information about a citizen that comes into the possession of a Minister. Is that right or wrong? The apology should have been about the misuse of that information and the abuse of his position. It was a half-hearted apology but, crucially, it missed the essential point, the essence of this issue.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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He does not do apologies.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Garda Commissioner is entitled to brief the Minister on serious issues but he or she is also entitled to expect that he will treat such information sensitively, properly and confidentially and that he will not seek to politicise the information given to him by the Commissioner in a political debate to undermine a political opponent. Can the Commissioner trust the Minister again with sensitive information about anybody or any issue?

The Minister of State at the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Sherlock, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Alan Kelly, Deputy Phelan and others have made it clear that they have concerns about how the Minister has handled this issue. The Tánaiste said there were issues to be looked at.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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A question, please. The Deputy is over time.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Tánaiste believe it was right for the Minister to use private information about a Deputy supplied to him by the Garda Commissioner in the manner he did? Is it right or is it wrong?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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First, the Minister has dealt with this.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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No, he has not.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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He came into the House yesterday and he made a full statement on the issue. He apologised and said he was sorry for what happened. It is important that we get a little perspective on this. We need to look to look at what has happened here. A series of allegations were made about serious criminality and corruption in the Garda Síochána in the administration of the penalty points system. The allegations were taken up by a number of Deputies who repeated them in public and in the House. Individuals were named in the House before the investigation was undertaken. There were wide-ranging and sweeping allegations, which have not been stood up. It was a bad episode that allegations were made about people which were not stood up.

The Minister launched an investigation, which involved considerable Garda resources, and it has shown there is no evidence of criminality or corruption. However, it found disappointing failings in the way in which the penalty points system is administered and, as the Deputy will be aware, disciplinary proceedings are being taken in a number of cases. That was the context in which the remarks were made.

The Minister addressed the issue of the context in which the Garda Commissioner made the information available to him. Allegations were made, as I recall, by at least one Deputy that public officials had intervened to have road traffic offences in some way disappeared by the Garda. In his statement to the House yesterday, the Minister said "I have no doubt that the Garda Commissioner was mindful too that Deputy Wallace might make public reference to the incident as part of the public controversy which was going on about fixed charge notices and in these circumstances he had a duty to mention it to me".

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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The Minister wanted to go first.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The bottom line is that the Minister has made a statement to the House-----

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Tánaiste believe him?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----he has responded to questions about it, he has apologised about it and he has said he is sorry.

Photo of Dara CallearyDara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Does the Tánaiste believe him?

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister did not say he was sorry for what he did. He said: "If Deputy Wallace believes I did him a personal wrong by mentioning it, I have no problem in saying I am sorry." That is not an apology. He did not say he was sorry for misusing private information on an individual to politically undermine him. This is wider than Deputy Wallace and the Tánaiste needs to get that point. If he was on this side of the House, he would say that exact same thing. The Minister said the exact same thing in terms of the unsuitability of a Minister in any Government using such information to score political points and to undermine a political opponent. He said it would be unacceptable behaviour for any Minister to do that in any Government. He steadfastly refused last evening to answer questions put to him regarding that quotation which came from his very mouth. He did not apologise last evening and he has not apologised. He stood over the misuse of private information supplied to him by the Garda Commissioner.

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Abuse.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Taoiseach has 100% supported him in doing that and the Tánaiste is now 100% supporting him as well. He thinks it is okay to use private information that the Garda Commissioner or gardaí give to the Minister for Justice and Equality. The Tánaiste is giving him carte blanche. That is essentially what he said in his reply. I asked a simple question. Was what the Minister did right or wrong? The Tánaiste just about said it was. He used the most popular phrase emanating from Ministers right now, which is "context". The context is clear. Whether one agrees with Deputies Wallace, Clare Daly and others, what has happened since the penalty points issue was first raised has not been pretty. The Tánaiste described it as a "bad episode". One Deputy was handcuffed and ended up in a prison cell. I am uncomfortable about that, irrespective of whether people are uncomfortable about the issues raised by the Deputies. I am uncomfortable about the fact that people who might be annoying Ministers are being undermined and so on.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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The Deputy is over time. Would he mind putting a supplementary question?

10:40 am

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I do not know the reasons, but it should be very clear that no Minister should have done what the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, did. I think in his heart the Tánaiste knows that, but he seems to be incapable of saying so.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Minister has dealt with this issue in the House. As happens when an issue such as this arises, a Minister comes into the House, makes a statement and takes questions. In this case, the Minister said he was sorry and the Deputy should accept this. Of course, there are issues which arise. There are issues about gardaí exercising common sense in the handling of road traffic offences. It is appropriate that they are enabled to continue to do this-----

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I accept that.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----and also in the context of fixed penalty charges. The Minister has made it very clear that there is no question of him or the Garda Síochána keeping tabs on Members of this House or of him or anybody in the Government keeping tabs on political opponents. There is an issue in regard to privacy which probably requires a longer and wider discussion. Perhaps it is an issue which might be addressed by an Oireachtas committee because the issues with which the Garda Síochána is dealing should not come into the public domain, unless there is an actual charge, either through the media or in any other way.

(Interruptions).

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The bottom line is that the Minister made a statement to the House on the issue; he said he was sorry and, in respect of how he had come into possession of the information, he explained this and the rationale for it.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Was he right?

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Fáilte ar ais, a Cheann Comhairle.

Apple's CEO, Mr. Tim Cooke, has told a US Senate investigation that for the past ten years Apple Sales Ireland has paid an average corporation tax rate of just 2%. In 2011 this company paid at a tax rate of just 0.5%. Another company, Apple Operations International, also based here had an income of €30 billion between 2009 and 2012 and, amazingly, paid no tax whatsoever. How is this possible? I cannot imagine a local business getting away with this type of tax avoidance. It is one law for big corporations, developers and bankers and another for small businesses and ordinary citizens. Why was the standard 12.5% rate not applied to these companies? The Tánaiste knows that the hundreds of millions of euro in lost revenue could have been used to get people back to work, but instead ordinary people must pay more taxes to make up the shortfall. He will also know from his portfolio that this type of tax avoidance hurts the developing world. Christian Aid estimates that the lives of 350,000 children could be saved each year if this kind of corporation tax avoidance was ended. Was the CEO of Apple right when he said the average rate of tax paid by one of these companies was less than 2%? Can the Tánaiste confirm that the other Apple company has paid no tax since 2009? Will he tell us how many other companies are availing of these tax arrangements and how much revenue is being lost to the economy?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Let us be very clear that the corporation tax regime in this country is established in law. It is contained in the Finance Acts.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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That is not what I asked.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Will the Deputy please do me the courtesy of listening to the answer? The corporation tax rate of 12.5% is established in law. No special tax rate deals apply to any individual company. We do not have any special low corporation tax rate regimes or arrangement for any multinational company. The tax rate which is established in law applies evenly to all companies. It is 12.5% on the trading profits in Ireland and 25% on non-trading income in this country.

An issue arises because of the differences in the legal and tax systems between countries. International tax planning takes advantage of these differences in national systems and rules and Ireland has been working for some time to address these issues. We have been working at OECD and European Union levels to examine these structures and consider how international rules can be implemented to ensure fair levels of taxation. I chaired a meeting of the General Affairs Council of the European Union yesterday, at which this issue was on the agenda in preparation for today's European Council meeting. In our capacity as President of the European Union, we have been advocating addressing the issues of tax evasion, tax fraud and aggressive tax avoidance by companies operating internationally. We are advancing a series of measures to deal with them. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, together with the EU Tax Commissioner, circulated a letter setting out seven proposals on how this issue will be deal with at European Union level.

In addition, the OECD has a project on base erosion and profit-sharing which deals with these issues. Ireland is one of the strong supporters of that approach being taken by the OECD. In December last year Ireland became one of the first countries to sign an agreement with the United States to improve international tax compliance and implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. This type of agreement is being hailed as the emerging international standard for the automatic exchange of tax information. The issue of the use of the differences between the tax regimes in different states is being and can only be addressed at an international level. We support that approach. We are one of the leaders in seeking to have these tax loopholes addressed at European Union and OECD levels. In the meantime, our tax regime is established in law. There is one law for corporations. There are not different laws and different standards applying to different companies, nor are different arrangements made with different companies in respect of the tax rate. There is one law and it applies evenly to all companies.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Clearly, there is one law, but it is one law for the rich and one law for everyone else.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That is two laws.

Photo of Barry CowenBarry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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There is Croke Park two and a half.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Implicit - explicit in the Tánaiste's answer - is that in one case the company has got off without paying any tax, paying less than 2% in another and 0.5% in another. The Minister should count this up instead of giving smart answers. The Tánaiste should look at what he has done recently to reshape Revenue. Revenue officials can now go to people's credit union and bank accounts and deduct from their salaries all sorts of taxes. The Tánaiste has said the Government is doing the things he outlined, but did officials from the Department of Finance or Revenue meet any of these companies before they made their tax returns?

The Tánaiste said there is "an issue". It is more than an issue. It is a very profound matter. At a time when we are strapped and ordinary people are carrying the burden of bad policies, these corporations are able to avoid paying tax. Can the Tánaiste tell me whether officials from the Department of Finance or the Revenue Commissioners met any of these companies before they made their returns?

10:50 am

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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If I knew that, I think the Deputy would correctly be asking me an entirely different question.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Is the Tánaiste saying he does not know?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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In this country, the dealings of any individual taxpayer - a person or a company - with the Revenue Commissioners are not known to members of the Government-----

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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Not even the Minister, Deputy Shatter.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----nor indeed should they be.

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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Is it the same with the Garda?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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It is an entirely separate-----

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Are they known to officials in the Department of Finance?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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That is an entirely separate system. Under our system, we make the law in respect of tax and the tax affairs of individual companies or people are dealt with confidentially by the Revenue Commissioners. That is at it should be.

Photo of Luke FlanaganLuke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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What if they fall out with a Minister?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Whatever about a justice Minister knowing about a road traffic offence issue-----

Photo of Luke FlanaganLuke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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The Tánaiste would expect it from him.

Photo of Arthur SpringArthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)
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He is worried about what else he knows.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----if any Minister was to know about or come in here and comment on-----

Photo of Mattie McGrathMattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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That is allowed, is it?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----the affairs of any taxpayer - an individual or a company - quite rightly-----

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We are making sure to protect the corporations.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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-----there would be a different issue in relation to it.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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That is a red line.

Photo of Timmy DooleyTimmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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He would have to resign.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Let us look at the overall situation.

Photo of John HalliganJohn Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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Somebody in Holland will pay the 12.5%.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Deputy Adams is painting a picture to suggest there is somehow tax evasion or tax avoidance in respect of our-----

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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There is.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We are a tax haven.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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No, we are not.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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There is.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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Please allow the Tánaiste to answer the question without interruption.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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He is just in the door.

Photo of Ciarán LynchCiarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)
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This is about 4,000 jobs in Cork.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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On the application of our tax regime, the reality is that companies in this country pay 9.1% of Ireland's total tax revenue.

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Except when they do not.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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No. Please listen to the answer.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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We are over time. If Deputy Adams wants an answer to his question-----

Photo of Gerry AdamsGerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I want an answer but I am not getting it.

Photo of Seán BarrettSeán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Ceann Comhairle)
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I will cut it off.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Companies in this country pay 9.1% of our total tax revenue. That compares with 5% in France and 4.2% in Germany.

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Hear, hear.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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I was going to start by sincerely recognising the important role played in opposition by the Tánaiste, the Ministers, Deputies Howlin and Rabbitte, and Dick Spring when they lobbied and called for independent oversight of the Garda Síochána. I was going to appeal to the Tánaiste to intervene in the present situation on the basis of that record. However, I have to say I was shocked by his response to Deputy Martin. He chose to repeat the false assertion that the claims made on this side of the House did not stack up, even under the Garda's internal inquiry. I named one individual in this House - a member of the Judiciary who sits in judgment on ordinary drivers when they come before the court on penalty points matters. The investigation found that the judge had verbally petitioned a garda and had three penalty points written off. The report said the paper trail in that case was not adequate. Any conviction that results from a prosecution taken by the garda in question in front of the judge in question is now unsound. This is a very serious issue.

It is a very good thing that the practice of terminating fixed penalty points has ceased. That is very welcome. The Tánaiste should be happy about it. We were told after the Morris tribunal that there would be a new system, that the blue wall of silence was being broken down and that those who want to report malpractice will be protected by the new confidential recipient system. The present debacle exposes that as a sham.

Last night, the House was treated to a cabaret from the Minister for Justice and Equality. He tied himself up in knots. On the one hand, he emphasised the informality of the information he received, presumably to escape data protection legislation. On the other hand, he stressed the formality of the reliance on Garda Síochána legislation. The Minister has consistently created the illusion that he acted promptly, took the issue seriously and dealt with it. His claims that the information was received in his Department in September and that he got it in October have been backed up by his appointed Commissioner. That would be prompt, but there is a problem - the Taoiseach says differently. The Taoiseach has said three times in written form that the information was passed on to the Minister's Department well in advance of that. Can the Tánaiste give us some answers in that regard? Which version of events is the correct one? In what month did the Minister, apart from the dossier, first get information about the allegations of the Garda whistleblower? In light of all the unanswered questions in this context, can the Tánaiste say whether he has confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the confidential recipient, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice and Equality?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Yes, I have confidence in the Garda Commissioner. I have confidence in the Garda. I believe every Member of this House should express that confidence as well. The allegations that were made were investigated. The Minister for Justice and Equality established an investigation. The report of that investigation has been presented, published and referred to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. Any question of detail arising from the report can be pursued at that forum. Anyone can be invited in to participate in the discussion as a witness. The Garda Commissioner can be invited to come before the committee to answer any questions posed by Deputy Daly or any other Deputy. That is the appropriate way for it to be dealt with. That is what public accountability is about.

The Deputy also asked about the protection of whistleblowers. This Government is the first to take this issue seriously. Arising from a commitment we made in the programme for Government, the drafting of the protected disclosures Bill is now at an advanced stage. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform expects to bring the Bill before the Government shortly for its approval. It will then be published and introduced before the Oireachtas. The main aim of this legislation is to encourage and support workers who raise concerns about possible serious wrongdoing in their workplace when that comes to their attention. It will achieve this by providing strong protections for workers who are penalised or victimised by employers for making a protected disclosure.

The whistleblowing protections will be available to workers in all sectors of the economy, including members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. A number of specific disclosure channels or gateways will be provided for workers in the legislation to enable them to make disclosures to an employer, a responsible Minister, a regulator or, in particular specified circumstances, externally including potentially into the public domain. Important restrictions to external disclosures will be put in place in the public interest to govern external disclosures relating to law enforcement, security intelligence and defence matters. A stepped disclosure regime will be put in place under the Bill with lower thresholds to make internal disclosures, with the aim of promoting disclosure to an employer in the first instance in order to have the disclosure investigated and any failings that are revealed fully rectified.

I think it is high time for legislation to be introduced to protect whistleblowers. We need to ensure that employees who discover that something wrong is happening can report that without fear of losing their jobs or being discriminated against. This issue has been outstanding for a very long time. This Government has committed to the introduction of legislation of this kind to protect whistleblowers. We are doing that. The legislation is due to be considered by the Government very shortly. I have set out its main provisions. I expect the Bill in question to be before the House very shortly.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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This issue will not go away. I think five reports were produced as part of the Morris tribunal inquiries before anything was actually done. The Tánaiste has said that the report has been published and that any details of it we would like to tease out can be dealt with at committee level. That did not stop him from furnishing and repeating false assertions about the report earlier on.

I notice the Tánaiste said he had confidence in the Garda Commissioner and the Garda. The reality is that many gardaí do not have confidence in the Garda Commissioner and I certainly do not. However, I do have confidence in the ordinary members of An Garda Síochána and think they deserve better and deserve to be supported. The Tánaiste was very wise not to answer my question as to whether he had confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Taoiseach.

11:00 am

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Deputy did not ask.

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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I did. Perhaps the Tánaiste was not listening and might answer it this time. We have strong evidence to contradict the Minister's position and the Tánaiste might regret any endorsement of him and his actions. There are serious discrepancies between the contentions made by the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner and evidence we have seen in this matter. There is serious evidence that whistleblowers were ignored, warned off and attempted to be silenced. The Tánaiste's endorsement of the confidential recipient might have been a little hasty also.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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First, in case there is any doubt, let me assure the Deputy that I do have confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality. Since she mentioned the Taoiseach in the course of her question and in case she has any doubt about it either, I have confidence in him.

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We never had any doubt about that.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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There is no issue about confidence. Serious allegations were made about the penalty points system. These allegations were investigated; there is a report and now a process by which it can be dealt with and people can be questioned in regard to it. That is the appropriate way of dealing with the matter. A set of recommendations which arose from the report are being implemented and there are some disciplinary procedures being pursued. This is an issue which was brought to light and addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality; an investigation took place into it and there is a report and action to follow up on it.

There are issues which are of legitimate public concern about how gardaí operate. As I said here before, most people's contact with gardaí or the law is in connection to road traffic offences. There are legitimate issues of public concern that the application of the law in respect of road traffic offences is applied evenly and fairly and is also applied, in some instances, with a degree of common sense. Let us take the idea, for example, that a penalty point is attached to somebody's licence and the only way it can be addressed is by the individual going to court, no matter how wrong the application of that penalty point might be. I do not think any fair-minded person believes that is the appropriate way to deal with the matter.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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We never said that either.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Nobody said the Deputy did.

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Gardaí ought to have a degree of discretion and be able to exercise their common sense in these matters. What people want to know and be assured of and what we should all contribute to is that the law is applied fairly to everybody, that there is not some kind of inside track or some way whereby people who are favoured or in certain positions, whether they be public positions, celebrity positions or otherwise, can have their situation dealt with more favourably than anybody else.

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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What about someone from Darndale?

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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One law must be applied evenly to everybody. We should all ensure what we do and say contributes to this. At this time, it is important to re-emphasise our support for and confidence in the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána.