May I make a comment?

I am sorry, there was an announcement. Whatever arrangements Deputies wish to enter into later, I want to deal with Leaders' Questions now. It is matter for the Whips afterwards.

I would have appreciated some consultation on the issue, given that the Guerin report followed the presentation of issues to the Taoiseach by me in the Chamber related to very serious issues that merited further investigation. In good faith, the Taoiseach appointed a senior counsel to examine them. I sent the material to the Taoiseach. I am at a loss in the sense that I do not have possession of the conclusions or report of Mr. Guerin. I would have thought it would have been appropriate for us to have been consulted on the content and import of the report, given that it has led to the resignation of the Minister.

I am sorry, but we can deal with that matter later.

This is Leaders' Questions.

Does the Deputy have a question?

Yes.

I am sorry, I thought the Deputy had a different question.

I had questions originally for the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter, in relation to the Data Protection Acts.

The Deputy cannot ask them now because he is gone.

That is not the point. Something very urgent and profound has been raised by the Taoiseach by way of an information statement.

The Deputy is using Leaders' Questions to raise it.

No opportunity has been given to Opposition Members to respond to it. I understand there may be reasons for this, but I ask the Taoiseach if he can outline to the House the nature of the conclusions of Mr. Guerin's report that have led to the Minister's resignation. It is a very significant outcome of the report that it caused the Minister to resign. Can the Taoiseach outline whether the Minister spoke to him and whether he spoke to the Minister? Obviously, the Taoiseach received the report. Are there matters in it that he feels made it absolutely necessary for the Minister to resign? Can he outline to the House, even in a broad sketch, the import and content of the report that have led to the Minister's resignation? He will accept that it has caused a significant degree of surprise in the House that in a shock announcement he has indicated that the conclusions of the Guerin report have caused the resignation of the Minister and have been the factor which has resulted in him resigning from office. Have there been consultations between the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on the matter? Did the Minister take the decision in his own right following a discussion between him and the Taoiseach after the Taoiseach had received the Guerin report? When can we on this side of the House expect to receive a copy of the report? When is it the Taoiseach's intention to have a debate in the House on the report and also on the resignation of the Minister?

I have received a letter from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, setting out the background and his reasons for making the decision he has made. The Minister has made his decision with a great degree of dignity. This is not a case of a Minister having been involved in anything underhand, illegal or scams of any description. It is a testament to the extent of the exceptional work ethic the Minister showed right across the entire spectrum of the justice brief that the report comes to the conclusion that there was inadequate investigation and analysis of the issues raised by Sergeant McCabe by a variety of agencies. I point out that GSOC did not co-operate with Mr. Guerin. I point out that Mr. Guerin did not speak to the Minister. I point out that the report recommends that there be a comprehensive commission of investigation into the matters raised as the subject of the issues by Sergeant McCabe.

The Minister, in his letter, thanks all of the personnel involved in the work in which he was involved. Obviously, he has read the report, considered its implications and, in the interests of the entire situation, made up his mind and tendered his resignation which I have accepted with reluctance. He has a prodigious work output. His work in the area of penal and legislative reform will stand the test of time.

The report, as Deputy Micheál Martin knows, came as a response by me to issues of grave concern raised in the House. The Government appointed Mr. Seán Guerin, SC, to look at the documentation and the cases presented. His report is factual and straight and, I must say, hard-hitting. It points to the inadequacy of investigation by a range of authorities. In so far as that issue is concerned, the brunt of the report deals with the Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality and, to a lesser extent, the Minister for Justice and Equality. In regard to his statutory powers, the Minister considers that it is in everybody's interests that he tender his resignation.

The report was sent to me as Taoiseach. The accompanying letter from Mr. Guerin yesterday evening points out that publication of the report must take into account certain matters of privacy, named individuals, matters that might be sub judice and so on. I have asked the Attorney General to deal with the report in that context and it will be published on Friday morning, taking into account the recommendations of the senior counsel. The Government will respond next week in respect of the report's recommendation that there be a comprehensive commission of investigation, as I committed to here when the matter was raised in the first instance. Obviously, we will make arrangements through the Whips to have the report debated at an appropriate time. It will be available on Friday morning.

On a personal level, it is a very difficult day for any Minister to have to resign. On a political and a policy level, we certainly had differences with the Minister, Deputy Alan Shatter. I recall his rather trenchant - or very strong - comments on this issue in the House, but be that as it may. I take it that the Taoiseach has read the report and that, therefore, he must have had discussions with the Minister prior to his decision. I take it that the Taoiseach was the first to receive the report because he had commissioned it.

Yes.

I am still unclear on the necessity for the Minister to resign or the reasons the report led to his resignation. Was the Taoiseach of the opinion that it made that a necessity? Can he outline to the House in any shape or detail what the report states? I take it that he is confirming that a separate commission of investigation to the one in relation to Garda taping will be established to deal with the very serious issues contained in the file I sent to him which had been forwarded by the whistleblower. The issues were grave. Can the Taoiseach indicate, in terms of his comment on the inadequacy of analysis, whether there is an implication in terms of the confidential recipient? Was this featured in terms of the issues which had not been dealt with adequately by the various agencies and, ultimately, the Minister? Can the Taoiseach shed any light on that aspect?

The report is 300 pages long. It concludes that there is a requirement to have a comprehensive commission of investigation into these matters. It points to the inadequacy of investigation and analysis in dealing with the detail of evidence submitted by Sergeant McCabe in respect of these matters. It points to the inadequate response of the Minister under his statutory function and responsibilities for independent investigation and analysis of these matters. It is in that respect that he feels it is his duty to resign from his responsibilities and in that respect only. It is his feeling as a Minister that this finding of the senior counsel of inadequate use of his statutory responsibilities requires him to tender his resignation. Mr. Guerin did not actually speak to the Minister but obviously was in possession of the documentation and paperwork from the Department of Justice and Equality.

This requires him to tender his resignation. Mr. Guerin did not speak to the Minister for Justice and Equality but he was in possession of the documentation and paperwork from the Department of Justice and Equality.