No. The decision to table this proposition is a pre-emptive strike to prevent a situation in which the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, would come into the House to be specifically examined about his behaviour in releasing private information supplied to him by An Garda Síochána on the public airwaves to undermine a political opponent. Members on this side of the House tabled several private notice questions and special notice questions because they were anxious that the Minister clarify this issue alone, not the wider issue of the report on the alleged cancellation of fixed notice charges. The core issue that many Deputies, particularly the Opposition spokespersons on justice, want to put to the Minister is his unacceptable behaviour in publicising such private information. I understand he already faces two inquiries, one under the Standards in Public Office Act, the other on whether he is in breach of the Data Protection Act. These are very serious issues. The special notice questions that were tabled on that specific issue should have been allowed today. That is where the focus should be. What will happen later, when there are four speeches of ten minutes each and a 20 minute question and answer session, will be an attempt to subsume that key issue into a wider set of issues and to let the Minister off the hook. That is the gambit or parliamentary ploy that is being used by putting this proposition before us.

These are very serious issues. Under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 if a garda passed the kind of information that the Minister has to the media or other places he or she would be fined €50,000 or would be imprisoned for six months under the provisions of section 62(5) of the Act. The Minister for Justice and Equality can boldly ignore such rules and do what he likes with private information supplied to him. That is unacceptable. The Taoiseach's endorsement of him, his own behaviour and the Taoiseach's failure to state whether he believes he was right or wrong is equally unacceptable. The Garda Commissioner indicated to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality last week that the report to be discussed today could very well be referred to the Garda Ombudsman for further inquiry and investigation by any individual who may wish to do so.

It might be premature to be discussing its content. In the final analysis, what Deputies require today is a very specific and focused question and answer session with the Minister on his decision to release private information on Deputy Mick Wallace in the course of a debate with him, with the set purpose of undermining him.

That was a Second Stage speech.

The position our spokesperson and Sinn Féin have taken up is that the breach of the Minister’s office in declaring information given to him by a member of Garda Síochána should be subject to an independent inquiry. I asked earlier why this was not made the responsibility of the Garda Ombudsman. The way the Taoiseach has set this out could prejudice an inquiry which may be held in the future. I do not know if we can force that on the Government, but it certainly strikes me that we are going to have a discussion around all of the detail of this report and so forth when the crux of the issue is the way the Minister, as we see it, abused his office in using this confidential information to have a go at a political opponent.

The fact of the matter is that the Government Whip was approached by Opposition personnel, including Whips, to arrange for the Minister for Justice and Equality to come into the Dáil to answer questions about this matter. That is what is happening later.

No, it is not.

Is it not?

It is not what will happen.

Is the Deputy ordering business now?

No, I am not.

The fact of the matter is that there was a request made to the Government Whip for the Minister for Justice and Equality to come into the House to make a statement and answer questions. That is what is on the Order Paper. I have no control over people in tabling Priority Questions.

The Taoiseach means a private notice question.

Neither do I have control over complaints made to the SIPO, the Standards in Public Office Commission, or the Data Protection Commissioner. These are completely independent matters.

I am happy to have tabled this motion in response from our perspective and, in order that everyone is quite clear on this, I am happy with requests from Opposition Whips that the Minister come into the House to make a statement and answer questions. We are wasting time as he prepares to do this. He is quite willing to come into the House and will go before the Oireachtas committee to discuss all of the issues involved, either individually or the report and its appendices.

However, he will not address the issue of what he did with Deputy Mick Wallace’s information. That is the point I am trying to make. That is the specific issue.

Order, please.

Deputy Micheál Martin can come this evening-----

That is what parliamentary accountability is all about. The Taoiseach is dodging it.

The Deputy still has not lost it. The purpose of this evening’s business is to answer questions the Deputy might have for the Minister.

I call Deputy Micheál Martin on the Order of Business.