David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to make a contribution on this subject. Both Houses of the Oireachtas and the people are deeply in debt to former Deputy Jim Higgins and Deputy Brendan Howlin. The cardinal point is that without them, the Morris tribunal would not have existed. They did not make allegations but rather reported them while behaving in a very proper way. They did not abuse the privilege of the House or name people while in it. They did exactly as Mr. Cosgrave had done with Jack Lynch and went to a senior Minister with the allegations. When the allegations were investigated, the vast and overwhelming majority of them were found to be true. Our first point should be our gratitude for the proper behaviour of these two Deputies.

The findings indicate there was a serious incident and the Garda was called upon because a man was dead. One garda was off having a drink and the other two were on a meal break so they would not attend a roadside accident where somebody had died. They did not preserve the scene, although it was initially accepted it was a hit and run accident. They then started to frame the McBreartys. There was no evidence and yet they levelled charges against Frank McBrearty and Mark McConnell. They proceeded to use a plant and there were 68 prosecutions over an 18-month period.

The allegations properly passed on by these Deputies included the manufacturing of bombs, which we all heard about from the evidence given. It was re-enacted brilliantly on Vincent Browne's show, which detailed the grinding of chemicals in coffee grinders. It was a mad scenario. The allegations also included the planting of bombs, use of bogus informers and the framing of innocent people. The allegations upheld included allegations of using bogus informers, planting IRA bombs, planting a gun and explosive device to arrest innocent people and coercing murder statements from witnesses.

Gardaí lied under oath at the tribunal and then covered up the activities of corrupt senior officers out of a sense of misplaced loyalty. That was in a case where the disciplinary regime was totally deficient, as a member could hardly be sacked for anything and an answer could not even be extracted. Members did not have to explain actions to a superior officer. That was not confined to Donegal.

Thanks to the action of former Deputy Jim Higgins and Deputy Howlin, we have a new regime, which the Minister of State referred to, where gardaí are compelled to furnish answers. A register of informers has been introduced and there is a whistleblowers charter and so on. I remind the House this would not have happened without former Deputy Higgins and Deputy Howlin. The accusations against them are misplaced. They went to the Minister and gave the information to him in confidence, as had been done in the past. No garda's name was mentioned in public utterances.

They have been told they should have investigated the allegations. How could they have done this? It took the Morris tribunal six and a half years, millions of euro and the power to compel witnesses to do so. Which of us could possibly expend that kind of energy and dynamism? It is a farce to have expected them to investigate the allegations. In any event, a decision in the Abbeylara case places considerable restrictions on the capacity of elected representatives to intervene in a matter investigating a private citizen.

The allegations were not made by the two Deputies. One allegation passed on was found not to be true but we should follow the matter a little further. When the information was passed to the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy John O'Donoghue, he decided to investigate. The allegations against these two senior gardaí were investigated but even after the investigation, the Minister decided to include the allegations in the terms of reference of the tribunal. If there is any responsibility, it would bounce back to the then Minister, Deputy John O'Donoghue, who after having the matter investigated still found the charges serious enough to be included in the terms of reference of the Morris tribunal. That completely exonerates former Deputy Higgins and Deputy Howlin.

We have reason to be grateful to the Morris tribunal. Although it has been expensive and lawyers make much money from such things, that is the responsibility of the Government that established them. The Government should have considered payment in the terms of reference as much money was spent. Nevertheless, it is good to think we are improving these matters and this kind of corruption will be restricted if not completely stamped out.

I have the highest regard for the Garda which serves us well. It had a systemic problem and then the characteristic few rotten apples.

This matter is not yet finished. This was a case of a couple of people who were framed by gardaí. In the previous session I raised the case of a man prominent in Dublin business life who was framed by certain elements within that circle. The Minister of State may find the records of this matter.

While I will not name the man, he was head of ISME and the matter received much publicity after I raised it in this House. The fraud squad was involved and while I do not suggest it was deliberately corrupt or anything else, although a series of meetings has been arranged between the principal in the case and the fraud squad over the years, they never meet. Letters no longer are replied to, meetings are arranged and people travel long distances only to meet a closed door. I will conclude on this point. The Minister of State should take up this matter and I can supply him with the relevant information. He should establish the reason the fraud squad continues to pussyfoot around and does not meet this man against whom serious allegations were made and subsequently disproved. He is trying to get to the bottom of the matter. They agree to meet him but then no one is there and there are no appointments. I do not understand what is going on and I believe this is a serious case.

Everyone, including Members as public representatives and the Garda Síochána, the guardians of our peace, must be accountable. To state the Garda must be accountable is not to state that widespread corruption exists or that one should be suspicious of all police. While the Garda does a good job, by and large, when it falls down on the job it has disastrous implications for all of us as citizens.