Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader and his office for arranging for statements on ambulance services in Dublin for today. It is useful that the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, will come in and set out his and the Government's position and deal with our questions. I welcome the fact there have been some discussions with union representatives from the Dublin Fire Brigade, DFB, ambulance services. I thank the Leader for arranging for this useful debate through which we can tease out the issues. This is what the Seanad should be and is doing today.

I call on the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Transport, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, to come to the House the week following the recess for a further debate on the airport staff pension issue. The reason I call for this debate is that late last night the expert panel produced a further report which proposes that some additional funds be given to those long service deferred members who were in the daa. While the amount proposed is small, I welcome the proposal as it shows some movement. However, I would look for Aer Lingus to do likewise. The report is quite detailed and while we are not under massive time pressure to deal with it, I suggest the week after the recess would be an appropriate time to deal with it. The Minister has been good at coming to the House to address the issue and despite the fact I have not agreed with much of what he said, I give him credit for attending here. A debate here would be useful and would encourage the Government to use its influence with Aer Lingus to ensure additional payments are made for the long service deferred members of Aer Lingus. The daa members are only a small section and I am happy for them. I met a group of daa workers yesterday on this issue.

I and my colleagues are disappointed and shocked that the Fennelly report into the resignation or retirement of the Garda Commissioner and other matters relating to An Garda Síochána is indefinitely delayed. I firmly believe the Taoiseach is using this report as cover so that he does not have to answer the questions put to him regarding what he said to the former Secretary General of the Department when he sent him out to the former Garda Commissioner to seek his resignation, or otherwise. It seemed curious at the time, something I debated with the Taoiseach in this House, that the Government felt it was appropriate that the whole area of the Taoiseach's interaction with the former Garda Commissioner - something not allowed under the Constitution - was included in the Fennelly report.

I suggested to the Taoiseach that day that we could remove a whole tranche or a third of the material to be covered by the Fennelly commission if the Taoiseach told us that day in the House what transpired, because he is the only one who knows that. Now we learn that the Fennelly report is indefinitely delayed. Therefore, while the Taoiseach has answered questions put by Mr. Justice Fennelly, we do not know what his answers were.We do not know whether the Taoiseach inappropriately contacted the Garda Commissioner and sought his resignation, which he is not entitled to do. None of this we know. The matter is being kicked down the road, which is extremely worrying. It is because of this, I am tabling an amendment to the Order of Business that the Taoiseach come to the House to answer questions or make a statement on what happened on the evening in question and on what he asked the former Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality to say to the former Garda Commissioner. He could clear this up today. If we must wait for the rest of the information, that will be fine, but there is no reason we must wait for the Taoiseach’s response.