The difficulty with dealing with all of these ongoing controversies in the administration of justice is that every day brings a new revelation, such as the taping of prisoners' telephone calls and the latest twist last night in the penalty points debacle. However, there are other distractions. While I have no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Shatter, it was nauseating to listen to the former Fianna Fáil Minister, Deputy Willie O'Dea, pontificating last night in a highly vindictive, personalised and inappropriate way about the Minister. Fianna Fáil Members know as well as everyone else that this telephone tapping happened on their watch.

It did.

The Deputy was most of the reason for setting it up in the first place.

These justice issues date back for decades and involve Governments made up of Fianna Fáil, the Labour Party, Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrats and Democratic Left-----

The Green Party.

The Independents.

-----so the Oireachtas should keep its focus on what is involved here. Yesterday I made the point, and the Taoiseach agreed, that the Ian Bailey case is at the root of these problems. This arose from the investigation of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Ian Bailey's solicitor wrote three times in 2012 to the Minister, Deputy Shatter, about the Garda Commissioner's refusal to provide information to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission. Incompetence aside, this refusal, repeated many times, is the real reason for the lack of cohesion in the Government's response to these scandals. Yesterday's report by the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality confirms this. He said that departmental officials were so preoccupied with the possible ramifications of taped calls at Bandon Garda station that they might not have realised the gravity of more widespread taping of telephone calls over decades.

Yesterday I asked if the Minister would clarify his position in the debate on the Private Members' motion. Our justice spokesperson, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, put the same question directly to the Minister but he refused to do it. Is it not the case that alleged corrupt activities by gardaí in the investigation of the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier should have been the subject of a commission of investigation? Will the Government now initiate such a commission or will the Taoiseach give a commitment to make it part of the commission of investigation that is being established?

Yesterday, the Deputy raised the Bailey case, which arose from the murder of Ms Toscan du Plantier. The case has been ongoing for a number of years. As I said yesterday, the issue became crystalised because the end of the discovery process required a Garda affidavit to send the material to the legal team representing Mr. Bailey. It is clear from the Secretary General's report that the tapes that became known to officials when they were transcribed and assessed contain material that is very serious indeed. Those tapes are part of the discovery process and this case is before the courts. I do not wish to say anything here that would prejudice the outcome of that case, but clearly the material that has been transcribed and assessed and which will more than likely enter the public domain is very stark. Those tapes are part of the discovery process and are being sent to the legal team to be part of the case before the courts.

In approving the appointment of Mr. Justice Fennelly at its meeting yesterday, the Government made a number of recommendations that will have to be concluded in the terms of reference for the commission in consultation with the Department of Justice and Equality. Clearly, we need to be able to have, as part of that, the process, background, context, reasons, authorisation, use, retention, and the legality, the illegality or whatever of tape recordings where matters of public concern are involved. This is a matter of grave public concern and it needs to be dealt with.

This is in two parts. There is the immediate focus on the specific case and there is the wider implication for the trawl which produced evidence of systematic recording of conversations in Garda stations, and their retention, which have to be subject to a protocol if they are to be destroyed, as the Data Protection Commissioner pointed out. However, as the Deputy is aware, the Attorney General made an order that no tapes be destroyed. I think that is in the public interest as well.

The Taoiseach's answer is very disappointing because I am not clear whether he is going to include these matters in the commission of investigation, or whether he is going to set up a separate commission of investigation. The Taoiseach is saying these are highly significant and stark matters. In the lead-in to the Morris tribunal, then Opposition Deputy Alan Shatter rightly tabled a motion here for the required public inquiry into allegations of misconduct by some gardaí in County Donegal. He expressed disappointment when the then Fianna Fáil Minister for Justice said that he was going to appoint a lawyer instead to examine all the relevant papers. At the time of the Morris report, the Minister said the following:

These matters should not have been left festering. The [Fianna Fáil] Minister for Justice kicked essentially to touch... A banana republic would not deal with an issue as serious as this in such a manner.

I rest my case. The Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, said that a banana republic would not deal with an issue as serious as this in such a manner, yet he is now the justice Minister. The Morris tribunal uncovered alarming illegalities, corruption and cover-up by some elements of the Garda, which do not reflect on the vast majority of members of that service. Mr. Justice Morris was also very clear that the combination of corruption uncovered in Donegal could easily occur elsewhere. He made that very clear. In the Bailey case, it could be even worse, because the issues involved are not just local or regional; they go right to the top of the justice system in the Garda Síochána and the Minister for Justice and Equality, and that is a matter of public record.

Again, I ask the Taoiseach to be clear in his answer that either he will include these matters in the commission of investigation, or he will set up an appropriate inquiry, which the Minister, Deputy Shatter, argued for in the build-up to the Morris tribunal when he was Fine Gael spokesperson, which means a commission of investigation.

When the information was brought to the attention of the Minister for Justice and Equality, he informed his colleagues at yesterday's Cabinet meeting in respect of the recordings of prisoners. I heard Mr. Donnellan speak clearly on that matter. The Minister published immediately the information that we have, and it will be the subject of further discussions here. The terms of reference for the commission of investigation have to be agreed and concluded with the eminent judge. They have to be brought here to be approved by the Dáil.

This matter was brought to my attention on Sunday evening. Within 48 hours, we had moved to make a decision to have a commission of investigation. The Minister, Deputy Shatter, spent two years raising the case in Donegal before the then Minister, former Deputy John O'Donoghue, agreed that there should be an investigation. Now we are being criticised for acting swiftly and decisively in putting together a commission of investigation-----

The Minister still has not appointed a commission of investigation in respect of the whistleblower issues.

We are being criticised now because we are going and doing something about it, when that crowd over there year after year let it pass by, swept it under the carpet and did nothing. As far as I am concerned-----

-----the Government will bring the terms of reference here for discussion and approval by Dáil Éireann.

He was opposing a Garda authority until a couple of weeks ago.

Will you stay quiet?

If it is appropriate that the terms of reference include tape recordings of conversations between gardaí and the public, prisoners and so on, these are matters that the Government will decide on with the involvement of the Department of Justice and Equality and approval by the Dáil. I do not wish to pre-empt that, except to say that the Bandon tapes are covered by the discovery process. I am informed by the Attorney General that the Garda affidavit has been sworn and signed off on, and that material will be going to the legal team involved.

Deputy Adams comes in here and says that we should not act decisively and have a commission of investigation set up within 48 hours to deal with a matter of fundamental importance for our State.

The Taoiseach is becoming a bit like background noise, like elevator music.

Deputy Dooley, can you keep your mouth closed for just a few more seconds? Thank you.

A woman was murdered and there is a court case. There are tapes that are very stark in their remarks about this matter. At the end of the day, all we can do is what we believe to be right. What I believe is right is to have a commission of investigation, to have proper terms of reference, and to have all these matters investigated by an eminent Supreme Court judge to deal with that matter. Separately from that, we need to move to having an independent authority for An Garda Síochána. It has gone on for too long and we must put in place a structure that stands up to this country's needs for the future. That is what we intend to do.