I want, first of all, to thank members of this House for agreeing to
statements being taken on this important matter in the House today. As the
House will be aware I have laid the relevant material before the House to
give full effect to the recommendations of Mr Justice O'Neill.
However, I believe it is sensible before moving to seek approval for the
relevant motion that we discuss these matters here. I am already persuaded
from discussion which I have had that there may be some improvements which
can be made to put beyond doubt that certain matters will come within the
remit of the proposed Commission. I intend to reflect on what is said here
today and make any amendments to the proposed draft order in the light of
those discussions.
I have to emphasise, as Mr. Justice O'Neill indicated, that is imperative
that certain allegations be examined and I believe we should stick as
closely as possible to the terms of reference he proposed, not least
because otherwise we could delay finding out the truth about these matters.
Mr. Justice O'Neill does not know if the allegations he says should be
inquired into are true; I don't know if they're true; nor does any member
of this House.
But we have to remember that the truth or otherwise of allegations is not
determined by their seriousness or their frequency, but by the facts. And
establishing those facts, without fear or favour, is what I am determined
should happen. I am very grateful that Mr Justice Charleton, of the
Supreme Court, has agreed to act as the Commission.
It is of the utmost importance that allegations of wrongdoing by members of
An Garda Síochána are fully addressed. And there is no doubt that in the
past this did not happen as it should. But it is very important that in
addressing one injustice that we do not create others.
Just as failing to address allegations of wrongdoing, or victimising those
who have the courage to come forward and identify wrongdoing, is
unacceptable, so too is damaging, without evidence or fairness, the good
names of people.
I would remind the House that we have seen in the recent past Commissions
of Investigation establishing that people who have made allegations have
been found to be correct in the face of denials and obstruction.
And, on the other hand that persons investigated had behaved completely
properly. They had to live for a long time under the shadow of allegations
that were found not to be well-based and, in some cases, their careers were
ruined with great personal cost. That is the reality behind charges which
can be made in this House.
But it has a solemn duty to act with scrupulous fairness and in the public
interest when allegations of wrongdoing are made.
That is why when I received disclosures from two members of An Garda
Síochána last October I asked Mr Justice O'Neill to review the allegations
and recommend what further action may be taken and his full report will be
made available to the Commission of Investigation.
I have set out in the statement of reasons before the House the conclusions
and recommendations contained in his report and Mr. Justice O'Neill's
recommended terms of reference. The priority must be to give full effect
to his recommendations.
I recognise, of course, that other members of this House may have views
about what should or should not be included in those terms of reference and
I will listen to those views this afternoon.
I want to address directly suggestions which have been made that the Garda
Commissioner should stand aside.
It is easy for members to come into this House to make allegations - even
where they are described as not being allegations - against someone who is
not here to defend themselves.
And I do have to speak out in favour of fairness.
Some people in this House appear to believe that the making of serious
allegations against someone, which have not been tested in any way, is a
sufficient basis to expect someone to step aside.
Allegations are not convictions.
There has been absolutely no finding of wrongdoing against the Garda
Commissioner and I believe in those circumstances she is entitled to our
full confidence. It is a matter of fact too that Mr Justice O'Neill did
not recommend that she, or anyone else, should stand aside.
Just as it would be outrageous for some sort of smear campaign to have
taken place against whistleblowers, it would be as egregious for anyone
else to be targeted in such a fashion.
While allegations of wrongdoing have to be taken very seriously, the need
to protect the public is of great importance too. In that An Garda
Síochána play a vital role. They have been confronting many challenges
head on, not least in tackling the activities of gangland criminals. We
should all be mindful of the dangers of disrupting the leadership of that
organisation at a time of great risk to communities and for no established
cause. Actions have consequences and it is fanciful to imagine that a
temporary Garda Commissioner could be in the interests of An Garda Síochána
and, consequently, the community.
In short, asking the Commissioner to stand aside in the particular
circumstances which have arisen would be neither fair nor in the public
interest.
I am conscious that in recent years that An Garda Síochána have been hit by
a series of controversies. It was against that background that I moved to
introduce a range of very significant reforms, including the establishment
of the Policing Authority. I am grateful for the support which I had from
members of this House in bringing them forward. I indicated in speaking in
the House recently on the very useful Justice Committee report on
governance and accountability that I will be introducing legislation to
enhance the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Of course,
while An Garda Síochána by and large do a very good job in protecting the
community, there are cultural issues which have to be addressed.
We often talk of "drawing a line under" bad episodes in the work of An
Garda Síochána. I don't accept that. It is not about drawing lines under
anything. Instead it is about rooting out bad practice and putting in place
proper, durable, and sustainable policies and procedures to prevent a
recurrence.
And reform must be the watchword of the organisation, reform that never
stops.
Reform and investment will give us a police service that meets the
realities, challenges and expectations of 21st century Ireland.
In the meantime we have to deal with issues which arise - not by making
political charge or counter-charge in this House, nor by pretending to be
Commissions of Investigations ourselves; but by putting procedures in place
to ensure that allegations are fully and fairly investigated. That is
exactly what is being done in the proposal to establish a Commission of
Investigation.