Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 85:

In page 37 subsection (4)(a), between lines 43 and 44 to insert the following:

"(i) the public where such disclosure is a matter of exceptional and overriding public interest in all the circumstances,".

There may be exceptional circumstances where it would be legitimate for a member of the Garda Síochána to bring a wrongdoing to the attention of the public via the media. The Minister has said that the provision regarding Members of the Oireachtas would be sufficient for such a situation. However, what if Members in such a scenario did not want to pursue such a matter? Limits are imposed on who could bring this information into the public light. If none of the 226 Members wished to go the distance, this amendment would provide for a member of the force to place the information into the public domain. Our amendment does, however, state that this could only happen in exceptional circumstances.