Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom tréaslú leis an bhfianaise a thug an Seanadóir Mulcahy dúinn inné nuair a tharraing sé aird ar an gceist seo. Spats aside, it is important the whole issue of domestic violence has been put back on the agenda. I would welcome a debate on this issue again. We have already had several debates on it.

It is a very serious issue to which I have drawn attention on a number of occasions in the joint policing committee meetings I have attended. It is one of the statistics that has been increasing month after month and meeting after meeting.

We have been talking about performances. I am looking forward to going to the Abbey Theatre to see a version of "Sive", in which I performed when I was a young fellow with hair. That is a few years ago. We certainly had a wonderful performance yesterday at the Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions. I would call it a performance and a tour de forceworthy of the Abbey stage. The Minister for Justice and Equality certainly gave a great rendition but I do not think any of the Deputies or Senators there fully believed him in respect of what has been happening in connection with GSOC. The inquiry certainly does not go far enough. I know the Labour Party has been trying to take the kudos for pushing for an inquiry but the fact that it will not be done under the Commission of Investigation Act 2004 is regrettable. We should be pushing for that because we need the compellability that would go with that. The handling of the whistleblower affair leaves much to be desired, as does the fact that the confidential recipient has ostensibly been fired. There are some very worrying reports in the Irish Examinerand I believe on "The Pat Kenny Show", particularly one by Michael Clifford, about the case of Sylvia Roche Kelly who was murdered. The article by Michael Clifford states:

The reality, though, is that the case was an example of serious malpractice within the gardaí for which there can only be two plausible explanations. Either there was gross incompetence by a number of officers, or there was an organised cover-up designed to avoid scandal in the wake of an initial mistake.

That is a very serious allegation at which we really need to look. Given all the shenanigans that have been going on relating to these very serious issues, does the Deputy Leader and the Labour Party have full confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality or does the Deputy Leader agree with our deputy leader, Deputy Mary Louise O'Donnell that-----