I was going to start by sincerely recognising the important role played in opposition by the Tánaiste, the Ministers, Deputies Howlin and Rabbitte, and Dick Spring when they lobbied and called for independent oversight of the Garda Síochána. I was going to appeal to the Tánaiste to intervene in the present situation on the basis of that record. However, I have to say I was shocked by his response to Deputy Martin. He chose to repeat the false assertion that the claims made on this side of the House did not stack up, even under the Garda's internal inquiry. I named one individual in this House - a member of the Judiciary who sits in judgment on ordinary drivers when they come before the court on penalty points matters. The investigation found that the judge had verbally petitioned a garda and had three penalty points written off. The report said the paper trail in that case was not adequate. Any conviction that results from a prosecution taken by the garda in question in front of the judge in question is now unsound. This is a very serious issue.

It is a very good thing that the practice of terminating fixed penalty points has ceased. That is very welcome. The Tánaiste should be happy about it. We were told after the Morris tribunal that there would be a new system, that the blue wall of silence was being broken down and that those who want to report malpractice will be protected by the new confidential recipient system. The present debacle exposes that as a sham.

Last night, the House was treated to a cabaret from the Minister for Justice and Equality. He tied himself up in knots. On the one hand, he emphasised the informality of the information he received, presumably to escape data protection legislation. On the other hand, he stressed the formality of the reliance on Garda Síochána legislation. The Minister has consistently created the illusion that he acted promptly, took the issue seriously and dealt with it. His claims that the information was received in his Department in September and that he got it in October have been backed up by his appointed Commissioner. That would be prompt, but there is a problem - the Taoiseach says differently. The Taoiseach has said three times in written form that the information was passed on to the Minister's Department well in advance of that. Can the Tánaiste give us some answers in that regard? Which version of events is the correct one? In what month did the Minister, apart from the dossier, first get information about the allegations of the Garda whistleblower? In light of all the unanswered questions in this context, can the Tánaiste say whether he has confidence in the Garda Commissioner, the confidential recipient, the Taoiseach and the Minister for Justice and Equality?

Yes, I have confidence in the Garda Commissioner. I have confidence in the Garda. I believe every Member of this House should express that confidence as well. The allegations that were made were investigated. The Minister for Justice and Equality established an investigation. The report of that investigation has been presented, published and referred to the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality. Any question of detail arising from the report can be pursued at that forum. Anyone can be invited in to participate in the discussion as a witness. The Garda Commissioner can be invited to come before the committee to answer any questions posed by Deputy Daly or any other Deputy. That is the appropriate way for it to be dealt with. That is what public accountability is about.

The Deputy also asked about the protection of whistleblowers. This Government is the first to take this issue seriously. Arising from a commitment we made in the programme for Government, the drafting of the protected disclosures Bill is now at an advanced stage. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform expects to bring the Bill before the Government shortly for its approval. It will then be published and introduced before the Oireachtas. The main aim of this legislation is to encourage and support workers who raise concerns about possible serious wrongdoing in their workplace when that comes to their attention. It will achieve this by providing strong protections for workers who are penalised or victimised by employers for making a protected disclosure.

The whistleblowing protections will be available to workers in all sectors of the economy, including members of the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces. A number of specific disclosure channels or gateways will be provided for workers in the legislation to enable them to make disclosures to an employer, a responsible Minister, a regulator or, in particular specified circumstances, externally including potentially into the public domain. Important restrictions to external disclosures will be put in place in the public interest to govern external disclosures relating to law enforcement, security intelligence and defence matters. A stepped disclosure regime will be put in place under the Bill with lower thresholds to make internal disclosures, with the aim of promoting disclosure to an employer in the first instance in order to have the disclosure investigated and any failings that are revealed fully rectified.

I think it is high time for legislation to be introduced to protect whistleblowers. We need to ensure that employees who discover that something wrong is happening can report that without fear of losing their jobs or being discriminated against. This issue has been outstanding for a very long time. This Government has committed to the introduction of legislation of this kind to protect whistleblowers. We are doing that. The legislation is due to be considered by the Government very shortly. I have set out its main provisions. I expect the Bill in question to be before the House very shortly.

This issue will not go away. I think five reports were produced as part of the Morris tribunal inquiries before anything was actually done. The Tánaiste has said that the report has been published and that any details of it we would like to tease out can be dealt with at committee level. That did not stop him from furnishing and repeating false assertions about the report earlier on.

I notice the Tánaiste said he had confidence in the Garda Commissioner and the Garda. The reality is that many gardaí do not have confidence in the Garda Commissioner and I certainly do not. However, I do have confidence in the ordinary members of An Garda Síochána and think they deserve better and deserve to be supported. The Tánaiste was very wise not to answer my question as to whether he had confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Taoiseach.

The Deputy did not ask.

I did. Perhaps the Tánaiste was not listening and might answer it this time. We have strong evidence to contradict the Minister's position and the Tánaiste might regret any endorsement of him and his actions. There are serious discrepancies between the contentions made by the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Garda Commissioner and evidence we have seen in this matter. There is serious evidence that whistleblowers were ignored, warned off and attempted to be silenced. The Tánaiste's endorsement of the confidential recipient might have been a little hasty also.

First, in case there is any doubt, let me assure the Deputy that I do have confidence in the Minister for Justice and Equality. Since she mentioned the Taoiseach in the course of her question and in case she has any doubt about it either, I have confidence in him.

We never had any doubt about that.

There is no issue about confidence. Serious allegations were made about the penalty points system. These allegations were investigated; there is a report and now a process by which it can be dealt with and people can be questioned in regard to it. That is the appropriate way of dealing with the matter. A set of recommendations which arose from the report are being implemented and there are some disciplinary procedures being pursued. This is an issue which was brought to light and addressed by the Minister for Justice and Equality; an investigation took place into it and there is a report and action to follow up on it.

There are issues which are of legitimate public concern about how gardaí operate. As I said here before, most people's contact with gardaí or the law is in connection to road traffic offences. There are legitimate issues of public concern that the application of the law in respect of road traffic offences is applied evenly and fairly and is also applied, in some instances, with a degree of common sense. Let us take the idea, for example, that a penalty point is attached to somebody's licence and the only way it can be addressed is by the individual going to court, no matter how wrong the application of that penalty point might be. I do not think any fair-minded person believes that is the appropriate way to deal with the matter.

We never said that either.

Nobody said the Deputy did.

Gardaí ought to have a degree of discretion and be able to exercise their common sense in these matters. What people want to know and be assured of and what we should all contribute to is that the law is applied fairly to everybody, that there is not some kind of inside track or some way whereby people who are favoured or in certain positions, whether they be public positions, celebrity positions or otherwise, can have their situation dealt with more favourably than anybody else.

What about someone from Darndale?

One law must be applied evenly to everybody. We should all ensure what we do and say contributes to this. At this time, it is important to re-emphasise our support for and confidence in the Garda Commissioner and the Garda Síochána.