Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As the justice spokesperson for Fine Gael in this House, I am, like many others, very concerned about what was revealed on Sunday concerning the Garda Ombudsman Commission. To be quite frank, I was most disappointed to hear the statement from the Chairman of the Garda Ombudsman Commission on the evening news yesterday. I felt sorry for rank and file gardaí with the mention of the Garda in the statement. The Chairman would have been well advised to refrain from commenting until after the Cabinet meeting today. Members of the Garda Síochána all over the country are upset. At least one of the Garda representative bodies has now called on the Chairman to resign. He certainly needs to respond to the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Callinan and clarify exactly what he meant by his comment. Clarity is needed urgently because rank and file gardaí all over the country are very upset. Whether it was the Chairman's intention or not, gardaí have taken offence. In everybody's interests and as a matter of urgency, the statement needs to be clarified.