The Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality will be before the Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality this afternoon answering questions. However, when accepting the invitation, the Secretary General wrote to the committee on 13 May to say that while he would answer most of the questions, he is not in a position to answer any questions about the mysterious set of circumstances leading to the departure of the former Commissioner, Martin Callinan, following a meeting between the Taoiseach, the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, the Secretary General at the Department of the Taoiseach, Mr. Martin Fraser, and the Secretary General at the Department of Justice and Equality, Mr. Brian Purcell, on 24 March. This refusal to tell the full story to the committee is worrying and bizarre. We hear a lot about strengthening the role of committees and giving them the capacity to get answers to questions quickly in the public interest, yet we are now hearing about an attempt essentially to gag the committee. The Taoiseach could be helpful because there is nothing to stop him giving the full truth to the House and providing a full statement outlining all the circumstances leading to the forced resignation of the Commissioner. The Taoiseach could make a full statement to the House about the meeting between the Taoiseach, the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, and the two Secretaries General on Monday evening before Mr. Purcell was dispatched to the Commissioner's house. The Taoiseach can tell us what instructions he gave to the Secretary General and what he was told to say to the Commissioner. Why was it indicated that the Commissioner would not survive the Cabinet meeting the following morning? It is the first time in 35 years that a Garda Commissioner has been forced to step down. It is a serious issue of public interest and nothing is stopping the Taoiseach from telling us, the public and this House the circumstances of the meeting and the instructions given to Mr. Purcell as he went to the home of the Garda Commissioner to indicate that perhaps he should consider his position.

I thank Deputy Martin for his question. I congratulate him and all the other people elected over the weekend from different parties and none.

This is a serious matter and I have already said on the record that my requirement as Taoiseach was to deal with the issue.

Now.

When the information, which I had never had before, was brought to my attention, it was of such serious importance that I felt it right and proper that the Garda Commissioner of the day be informed of my concern and my anxiety because I would have to inform my Cabinet colleagues the following morning about the information brought to my attention. My requirement was that the former Garda Commissioner be made aware of my concerns and my anxiety arising from the information I was given. I have already said that on the record of the Dáil.

The following day, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality met and considered the matter and wrote a letter requiring a commission of investigation to deal with the matter, with one of the terms of reference of the commission of investigation being the events leading to the retirement of the former Garda Commissioner. The Government and I received that letter and acted on it. Within two weeks, the Government had set out terms of reference, including the specific requirement of the Oireachtas committee, and had appointed a sole chairman to conduct the business of the commission of investigation. Deputy Martin wants to change that and have a political discussion about the issue.

We want answers.

What about the banking inquiry?

I have already said on the public record that my sole concern was that the then Commissioner should be informed of my anxiety and concern because of the information brought to my attention on Sunday and Monday. Following the receipt of a formal request from the Oireachtas committee, the Government responded by setting up a commission of investigation and inserting into the terms of reference the specific request by the Oireachtas committee to deal with the matter of the retirement of the former Garda Commissioner.

So the Taoiseach can kick it down the road, as he kicked the Commissioner.

That is the position and there is nothing mysterious about it. It arises from a very serious matter and when the matter was brought to my attention, I felt it incumbent upon me, as the person who sits in this seat, to know that the Garda Commissioner was apprised of my concerns and anxieties. I was going to have to inform my Cabinet colleagues the following morning of the information I had received. Deputy Martin would have done the same.

The matter that came to the attention of the Taoiseach and caused him such great anxiety was brought to the attention of the Department and the Minister some weeks earlier by the Commissioner. That does not stack up. It is bizarre. Is the Taoiseach saying that all Mr. Purcell was told was to go to the Commissioner and tell him that the Taoiseach was filled with anxiety, and not to say any more?

A bit of soda water.

We are now being led to believe that he said nothing else. He did not tell him he would not survive the Cabinet meeting or that he was going to be sacked; he just told him that the Taoiseach was filled with anxiety.

Rennie's, and brandy and ginger.

This concerned something the Taoiseach had learned on that day, of which the Commissioner himself had informed his Minister two to three weeks earlier. We are not getting the full story. There is an extraordinary silence on the substantive question, namely, the removal of a Garda Commissioner. It was not for the Taoiseach to take that initiative under the legislation. If the Taoiseach was so minded, he should have informed his Cabinet colleagues in advance of any despatching of a senior public servant to the Garda Commissioner. I would like to know the full circumstances of what transpired at the meeting on the Monday evening between the Taoiseach, the former Minister, Deputy Shatter, and the Secretaries General, Mr. Purcell and Mr. Fraser. Essentially, this is being buried for a long time for political reasons.

We are over time.

Will the Taoiseach give a full statement? The Taoiseach knows the story. He knows what happened and I ask him to tell us what happened fully and without any equivocation.

Paddy wants to know too.

It was not a case of having the former Garda Commissioner told that the Taoiseach was full of anxiety. What was brought to my attention had gone on for 30 years.

We now know about tapes and recordings in Garda stations all over the country and tapes in the case of a woman murdered in west Cork, a case which remains unsolved. If the Deputy wants to make some glib remarks about it, that is his entitlement.

I never mentioned it; I just want the truth.

I was informed of the seriousness of this matter, an issue new to me and the country.

The Taoiseach sacked them all retrospectively.

The Deputy is right; I understand my responsibilities in regard to the Garda Commissioner. I do not have the authority to sack anybody.

No, but the Taoiseach did so.

However, I do have a responsibility.

The Taoiseach overstepped the mark.

I had the responsibility to see to it that the Garda Commissioner of the day was aware of what I had been apprised of and would be made aware of it.

He was; he had written to the Minister three weeks earlier about it.

Please allow the Taoiseach reply. We are over time and I will switch off the microphones.

My request was that the Garda Commissioner be fully apprised of the anxieties and concerns arising from the information that had been given to me.

Just that day.

We have a process here. The Oireachtas committee met to consider the matter and wrote to me and the Government, stating we must have a commission of investigation and that the terms of reference should include this matter. The sole member of the commission of investigation has written to me, as he is entitled to do, asking me to respond to him.

Stop hiding.

I will comply with his request and give him full and comprehensive responses to his queries.

Why not give that information to the House?

Why can the Taoiseach not give it to us today? Just tell us.

This House set up a commission of investigation headed by a Supreme Court judge, but the Deputy wants to make it a political conversation all the time. I have been contacted by the sole member and will respond fully and comprehensively to him.

Stop hiding behind the commission of inquiry.

This House put that process in place. I have already said I was concerned about what I had heard. I needed to tell my Cabinet colleagues the following morning and the Garda Commissioner had a right to be apprised of these concerns and anxieties. That is what I asked the Secretary General to convey.

Rubbish.

Cover up.