Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to pay tribute to Senator Landy. Apart from anything else, he was an absolute gentleman any time he worked with any of us in here. He is a great trade unionist and a great socialist. He represents the very best values of people on the left and I wish him and his family well for the future, while acknowledging that he will be a huge loss to this Chamber.

I request that an amendment be made to the Order of Business and ask that the Taoiseach come in to the House today to make a statement about the resignation of the Tánaiste and other related matters. It has been a fairly momentous week. I must declare a personal interest. I went to school with Maurice McCabe. I was very good friends with his younger brother. I know what a fine, upstanding family they have always been. There was a horrendous conspiracy against Sergeant McCabe on behalf of the State, and unfortunately we now know, because of the information that has been released over the last number of days, that when the Tánaiste found out about the attempt to blacken and smear his good name, she chose to turn a blind eye to that. It is unforgivable. This is not about anything in a personal sense; it simply is about political accountability. That is why Sinn Féin put down the motion of no confidence in the Tánaiste. We have no doubt but that had that motion not been put down, she would still be in place today. We did the right thing and we will always do the right thing. Our job is to challenge the Government when we see wrongdoing and the decision by the Tánaiste to basically turn a blind eye to what was happening to Sergeant McCabe and the horrendous attempt to smear his good name is simply unforgivable.

The Leader had to take one for the team this morning. He appeared on "Morning Ireland" to defend the indefensible. I almost felt sorry for him, to be frank.