The Taoiseach has firmly ruled out asking the Minister for Justice to resign. Enda Kenny said Alan Shatter had proven to be probably the most reforming Minister for Justice in the past 50 years.
“So many issues of societal consequence that have been left lying around have been, and are and will be, dealt by him as Minister for Justice,” he added.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams had called for the Minister's resignation.
Mr Kenny said Mr Shatter would address the House on the issue tomorrow during a debate on the Garda Inspectorate’s report on penalty points and he would take Opposition questions.
Mr Martin said the issue surrounding the tape recordings of conversations in Garda stations, on which he and Mr Adams had been briefed by the Taoiseach earlier, followed a range of other issues.
These included the bugging of the Garda Ombudsman's office, the undermining of whistleblowers in connection with the penalty points saga and the refusal to respond positively to the recommendations of the Road Safety Authority.
It also followed the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report on the matter.
Status of whistleblowers
Central to the entire saga, Mr Martin added, was the status of the whistleblowers and how they were treated by the Government.
Mr Shatter, in particular, he said, had consistently and with persistence sought to undermine the status of the whistleblowers.
"So much so, that he came into Leinster House and said on the record they did not co-operate with the O'Mahony inquiry," Mr Martin added. "That was a false statement and the Minister should withdraw it."
Mr Martin asked if the Taoiseach was still of the view that Mr Shatter’s position was tenable.
“Is he of the view that he does not have to apologise for what he said and that he should not withdraw his remarks made in the House in relation to what he said about the whistleblowers?”
Mr Kenny said he had spoken to Mr Shatter, who would deal with the issue tomorrow.
Mr Adams said that at every turn, Mr Shatter had protected the Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, as well as undermining the GSOC and discrediting the whistleblowers.
“Arguably none of this would have come to light unless these two brave officers had highlighted the law-breaking, as they saw it,” he added.
Mr Adams asked Mr Kenny if he would ask the Minister to go.
“ ‘No’ is the answer to the deputy’s question,’’ said Mr Kenny.
The Taoiseach said the proposed independent authority for the Garda Síochána was a matter on which both Fine Gael and Labour had jointly agreed as far back as 2006.
“I believe there is an opportunity here to deal with this for once and for all in a way that we would provide a professional, competent, efficient, modern, transparent and accountable police force by having an independent authority, and the two parties, as a government, committed and decided to do that,’’ Mr Kenny added.
Gist from journalist
Referring to the earlier meeting which he and the Fianna Fáil leader had had with the Taoiseach, Mr Adams said he had been told by a journalist on the way there the gist of what Mr Kenny had to say.
The Taoiseach said the Garda press office had issued a statement at 12.17pm, and he had briefed Mr Adams and Mr Martin at 2.45pm.
“Do not come in here and state the Government is running off to journalists,” said Mr Kenny. “Sometimes the Government is running away from journalists.”
