Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I will speak from the point of view of my great admiration for gardaí. My father was a garda and a founder member of the GRA. I was raised with that culture and I have not left it. I support the local gardaí. It pains me to see the way gardaí have been dragged down by the events in Donegal. It has been appalling beyond our wildest expectations. It has been worse than I could ever have believed. That is the reality and it must be dealt with and dealt with firmly.

I also support the Commissioner. I put myself in his position last week when the report was published. I asked what could he do in the situation. It appeared he had four choices. He could have decided to do nothing and leave the gardaí where they are. If he decided to sack them, he would have lost due process, they would have a case against him and we would never have been able to take action against the identified gardaí. He could have suspended them, and they could have gone home and done the gardening or gone on holidays, and we would have been paying them for doing nothing. He could have kept them working somewhere else. He could have moved them to where they would not have been in touch with the general public but they would still be doing a day's work. My honest belief is that this is the only option he had. I do not like it. My visceral response to it is to put the boot in and put it in hard. However, it is a time where wiser council can prevail and, if due process is to take its course, we must be careful in the way we deal with the issue.

As Senator Quinn said, we need to restore public confidence in the Garda. We should begin by restoring our sense of confidence in the Commissioner. The Commissioner must win back our confidence. He can do so but he must be seen to take action. As public representatives, we must recognise that he is also delimited by due process, by the code of discipline, by the law of the land and by the way in which justice must take its course. In the end, if he is found not to have acted correctly, honourably or responsibly in the manner in which we would expect, then he must take the rap for it. No more than the rest of us, he had to sit back and watch this tribunal take its course and he must sit back and watch what happens next. At that point we will come to a judgment.

This is the worst episode in the history of the Garda. There have been other incidents over the years, including the heavy gangs, but we must now ensure there is public confidence in the Garda. The issue concerning Deputy Roche during the week does not help. It is another example whereby we must ensure complaints go through the process and land on the desk to which they were headed. We cannot have people interfering with this process. I support strongly the Labour Party proposal that there should be a one-person ombudsman. It is the only way the process can work. I agree with the Government's position that gardaí should be accountable to the constitutionally-elected authority, namely, the Houses of the Oireachtas. However, there is nothing in the Labour Party motion which would undermine this approach. I support strongly the Labour Party motion and I am sorry the Government cannot support it.