Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was right that certain Garda stations were closed but that is not the issue today. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, told a public meeting in Stepaside that it is a question of "when" and not "if" Stepaside Garda station will reopen. I am not sure the report has been issued but such a statement undermines the independence of what is going on.

It takes a lot to shock me but I have been shocked over recent days by the report that 14,700 summonses were wrongfully served. Whether it is 14,700 or 1,700, this undermines the Garda Síochána. There were 1 million fake breath tests. If breath tests took just three minutes from the time to roll down the window to blowing into the recorder, this would total 50,000 man hours. No Garda checkpoint has fewer than two gardaí so it would be at least 100,000 man hours. This has been overlooked, which is unbelievable.

There is no doubt but that this is dangerous. I left my home to come back in here this evening while the international match is on at the Aviva Stadium. Many gardaí are out on the streets, protecting citizens, ensuring the traffic moves and providing crowd control. The confidence of the citizen in the Garda Síochána is now undermined, which is dangerous for the ordinary garda on the street and the citizen. It is also dangerous for our democracy because we depend on An Garda Síochána to uphold law and order in the State. It is dangerous if it loses the confidence of the citizens.

These are all management issues. We cannot say that the closure of the Templemore training college introduced a culture. The culture had to have been there already and it had to go to the top. We cannot blame the ordinary garda on the street but we can blame the culture that allowed it. I am already starting to hear horrifying stories of what else went on and it makes me worry that the Garda Commissioner has stated it is inevitable that we will identify more examples of bad practice.

I will ask the Tánaiste to answer just one question, which relates to her earlier remark when she spoke about the statistics relating to the southern region. The early audit report was 17%. In response to a question, she said that she did question the figures and that the lowest figure was 65%. She may remember that remark. She then stated that she cannot rely on the internal audit. Are those on the internal audit committee that is chaired by Michael Howard the only people to be thrown under the bus? Is Garda management moving away from these for another investigation? I am not speaking about the Commissioner, Nóirín O'Sullivan, but the Garda management and the culture that has developed there and which has to be dealt with.

I have lost confidence in the Garda management to deal with this situation. This is dangerous for the garda on the beat and our democracy. We need to take action but not in three months' time. An enormous amount of disrespect has been shown to the Tánaiste when she said that the first she heard about the issue with the Garda breath tests was when it was revealed at a press conference. It is unbelievable that they would not ring her private secretary before the press conference and give the Tánaiste that information. This sort of practice cannot be allowed. It is another sign of mismanagement and bad management at the core.I heard the Assistant Commissioner, Michael Finn, whom the Minister mentioned, say in one interview that if the Commissioner were to ask him to move, he would. Anybody working in the private sector would be asked to move. If I was responsible or had any hand or part to play in the private sector, I would be imagining a knock on the door and being asked to clean out my desk, not move to another area and still keep the same salary and pension rights.

We have to act. The Minister has to act in respect of the culture within management. We have to move to protect our democracy, citizens and the ordinary garda on the beat who actually has to interact with the public and, on some occasions, put his or her life at risk to protect our democracy. We need to act now and not wait for another inquiry or investigation. It is quite clear to anybody who has listened to the debate in the Dáil and the Seanad where responsibility lies. What we need from the Minister is action.