Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the action the Government will take arising from the two final reports from the Morris Tribunal, published on 7 October 2008; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40162/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Both the seventh and eighth reports of the Morris Tribunal were the subject of debate in Dáil Éireann on 22 October and in Seanad Éireann on the 30th.

The seventh report of the Morris Tribunal related to allegations of ongoing harassment of the McBrearty family as instanced by the issuance of 68 summonses against that family and their associates. Members of the Garda Síochána severely criticised in that report have already either been dismissed, have retired early or have resigned.

That report also confirmed that the Garda Síochána Complaints Board had neither the statutory powers nor the resources to deal effectively with events on the scale of those that emerged in Donegal. In was precisely for this reason that the Government established the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission with its own investigative staff after the enactment of the Garda Síochána Act 2005.

The eighth report deals with anonymous allegations, received by Deputy Howlin and former Deputy Higgins in June 2000, that senior members of the Garda Síochána acted with impropriety. The tribunal concluded that the allegations were completely without foundation and were constructed from "numerous half-truths, lies and rumours". The report recommends that the Committee on Procedure and Privileges of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann urgently review the manner in which Members deal with allegations brought to their attention by so-called whistleblowers in order to guard against unfounded allegations being "endowed with undeserved legitimacy because they are peddled cynically and successfully to well-meaning Members of either House". I expect that the Committees on Procedure and Privileges of both Houses will consider these matters carefully.