There is a Private Members' motion before the House this evening. I call Deputy Adams.

I have called Deputy Adams.

The Taoiseach said that the Minister for Justice and Equality did not cause the current crisis. The manner in which he has responded to it is what marks him out as unsuitable for office.

The Government's amazingly inefficient and incohesive response has led me to try to figure out why this is so. I am of the view that I now know why it is so. At the root of this ongoing controversy is the Ian Bailey case. Mr. Bailey wrote to the Taoiseach about his case in February. He has also asserted that he wrote to the Minister, Deputy Shatter, in 2012 regarding delays in a GSOC investigation caused by the former Garda Commissioner's refusal to provide requested material to the investigating team. The Bailey case is the real context of the ongoing scandal. People may or may not have known the level of illegal phone recording that was taking place but the former Garda Commissioner certainly knew. It is a matter of public record that he did not co-operate with GSOC, a matter which gives rise to a number of issues. The Minister for Justice and Equality, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice and Equality also knew. Does the Taoiseach agree that the Ian Bailey case lies at the root of the current difficulties?

I agree with Deputy Adams that the process of discovery in the Bailey case crystallised - as a result of the date of closure relating to that process - all of these matters. That is true. While this issue has been ongoing for a considerable period, it was the process of discovery which gave rise to the focus in respect of having the relevant tapes transcribed and assessed in the Bailey case, but also with regard to the wider implications of a much more generalised and systematic practice of tape-recording calls in quite a number of Garda stations throughout the country. Regardless of whether those tapes are legal or illegal, the question of their retention and what to do with them was the subject of a letter from the previous Garda Commissioner to the Data Commissioner. The Attorney General ruled that no tapes should be destroyed. I agree with the Deputy that it was the pending court case in respect of Mr. Bailey and the discovery process which crystallised the focus in respect of this matter and made it imperative that it be brought to the attention - with all the facts having been ascertained - of the Attorney General. She brought it to my attention and I then alerted the Government, the Dáil and the Deputy, as a party leader, to what was involved. On foot of what was brought to my attention, I took action in order to establish a commission of investigation.

By his account, the Attorney General only brought this matter to the Taoiseach's attention when he phoned her about an unrelated issue. In addition, the Taoiseach did not contact the Minister for Justice and Equality for a further 24 hours. There is no information at all with regard to his contacting or consulting the Tánaiste in respect of this matter. Where is the Tánaiste in all of this?

The Bailey case is crucial because all of those I mentioned knew about that case and about the surveillance, phone tapping, etc., that were carried out. The former Garda Commissioner did not co-operate with GSOC in respect of an investigation relating to that matter. While we are discussing these issues, the State is currently contesting a civil action taken by Ian Bailey and his partner, Jules Thomas. This is despite serious concerns in respect of Garda activities similar to those revealed by the Morris tribunal. There is also the matter of the tainted Garda investigation files relating to the Bailey case being handed over to the French authorities. As a result, there is an international dimension to this.

Let us return to what I am putting forward as a context in respect of why the Minister for Justice and Equality, the Attorney General, the Department of Justice and Equality and its Secretary General and GSOC are all working against each other. When the Taoiseach briefed Deputy Martin and I on this matter, I informed him that I believed what he was telling me. I still have no reason not to believe him. At the heart of what the Government is doing - at the core of which is the Minister for Justice and Equality - is an attempt to engage in a cover-up and to impede other Government and State agencies from investigating the allegations made by Ian Bailey. That is one of the reasons that the Minister for Justice and Equality should go. When he is responding to the matter which is the subject of tonight's Private Members' business, will the Minister clarify his role in respect of the issues I have raised? Ian Bailey has stated that he wrote to the Minister two years ago in respect of the then Garda Commissioner not bringing forward information which he was bound to bring forward under the terms of the Garda Síochána Act. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister to clarify his role in respect of these matters when he addresses the House later this evening?

I remind Deputies that this is not a court of law. This is not a place where charges are made against individuals - regardless of their identity - who are not in a position to defend themselves.

Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered and the crime remains unsolved. The transcribed tapes have a bearing on and a relevance to this matter.

In regard to the Deputy's question about the Minister for Justice and Equality, I came to Dublin on the Sunday in order to attend a function. We were due to debate the Garda inspectorate's report on the following Thursday. All of the commentators were referring to a clash between the parties in government and differences of opinion between Ministers. When I spoke to the Attorney General, the issues of importance she brought to my attention were such that they had to be the subject of serious reflection. The legal analysis of all of the relevant papers became much clearer on the Monday evening at which time I spoke to the Minister for Justice and Equality about the matter. I did not speak to the Tánaiste until the Tuesday morning because the legal personnel were continuing to reflect on the matter. Besides, I wanted the Cabinet to be fully apprised of all the details involved.

The discovery affidavit relating to the Bailey case has now been signed and I understand that the relevant material has been sent to Mr. Bailey's legal team. The concern which arises in this regard is that a woman was murdered and that the case remains unsolved. The issue arising from that murder and from the Bailey case is the focus of a great deal of attention and rightly so. However, the other aspect relates to the much broader situation whereby so many phone calls and conversations were taped and retained - whether legally or illegally - and that these tapes are now being held in secure accommodation in Garda headquarters. The Attorney General has issued a direction to the effect that they should not be destroyed. In the context of the letter from the previous Garda Commissioner to the Attorney General's office, I can confirm that a meeting was held in her office but that she was not present. The meeting was with her officials and the Attorney General was only asked about the request in the context of the generalities involved. The working group that was established did not operate out of the Attorney General's office and neither was her office represented on it. The entity in question was an internal Garda working group. The Attorney General has already clarified the position in this regard.

This is a serious issue and that is why the Government decided to bring about a structural change whereby an independent Garda authority - which will give our police force credibility, the trust of the people, competency, professionalism and oversight - will be established. Political responsibility will be retained by the Minister of the day to the Oireachtas. The commission of investigation, under the stewardship of a Supreme Court judge, will consider all relevant matters of public concern relating to the issues under discussion. I hope we will be in a position to clear the commission's terms of reference in the next week or ten days.

Deputy Adams inquired last week as to whether the Attorney General's phone had been bugged.

Can the Taoiseach say that again, please?

I am reminded of the day that I was at the opening of the McAleese Bridge across the River Boyne when Deputy Adams and the Deputy First Minister came to me and asked if they could take me away to the side of the stage for a conversation. I said: "Gerry, you cannot take me away anywhere but I am happy to talk to you". Deputy Adams said to me: "We need to speak to you about an important matter that we cannot discuss with you on the telephone".

The Taoiseach said that last week.

It is on the public record that my telephone is being tapped.

I call Deputy Joan Collins, thank you.

Excuse me. I have called Deputy Collins, please. Thank you.

Perhaps the Taoiseach does not trust his own telephone.

Will you settle down, please? Deputy Collins, please, without interruption.