With regard to the controversy about the release of the Fennelly Report this week there are some very serious issues that need to be addressed. First of all it is clear that proper procedure was not followed by the Taoiseach in the lead up to the retirement of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan and that has left a number of questions unanswered by Mr Kenny. It may well have been that Commissioner Callinan had no option but to resign because there was a cloud over his role, but questions still remain about the circumstances of his retirement.Then we have the role of the new Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan, who knew everything that was going on. She sat at numerous Dail Committee meetings where these matters were being discussed yet she never said anything at all or questioned anything. She also has many questions to answer in all this controversy especially now that she has been appointed Commissioner.
We have heard since that a SIM card and a number of bags of documents belonging to Commissioner Callinan were shredded the day he retired. The public deserve to know why this happened and was there anything important on these documents that were destroyed. This matter needs to be investigated in the interest in transparency. The role of the Attorney General is also under scrutiny as she appears not to have given full up to date briefings to the Minister for Justice at the time that these matters were arising. I am asking the question today do we need a complete clear out of these senior Gardaí, law officers and people at the top in the Department of Justice and start afresh in the interests of the public and of the Garda force? Morale in the Garda force has been badly damaged by these issues and we need strong leadership that is untainted by controversies that have brought a cloud over the force at the highest level.