Five weeks ago the Tánaiste referred two very serious protected disclosures by two senior gardaí to a retired judge, Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill, for urgent inquiry. The disclosures, in which it was alleged the Garda Commissioner, Ms Nóirín O'Sullivan, was directly involved in a systematic and organised campaign to discredit the whistleblower, Sergeant Maurice McCabe, with colleagues, politicians and journalists, were due to be investigated by the former judge, who is due to conclude and report back next week. However, he was given no powers of compellability and no terms of reference. Attempts made by other whistleblowers to have their cases heard also, as they too have been the victims of bullying and harassment since making protected disclosures, were ignored, despite the fact that their testimony and experiences were current. They go to the very heart of the systemic problem in An Garda Síochána - what is said in public and what is done privately are entirely different. It was hardly an auspicious start to the inquiry when this was its foundation. One would be forgiven for thinking it was put together as a fig leaf for the Minister to take cover behind for her lack of action in this regard. This view has been strengthened as we find out that with a week to go to the issuing of his report, the former judge has not requested any material from either of the two whistleblowers. He has not met or even spoken to either man. In fact, the only interaction was a request, approximately two weeks ago, to their legal teams to pass on the protected disclosure to the Garda Commissioner. We could not make it up.

What sort of inquiry does the Minister honestly expect us to believe this is? While this has been going on, we have had the Garda Commissioner appear at the justice committee with senior officers who are at the heart of many of the protected disclosure complaints. At the same meeting she misled the committee by stating she was not privy to information on a campaign of harassment against any member of the force when she was actually in direct receipt of 14 letters outlining precisely the situation. She has been the subject of a detailed section 41 complaint on which the Minister has been briefed. We are awaiting GSOC's finding. She has lost the support of the ranks of the force by intervening in a partisan way in their legitimate pay claim with threats of martial law. Why has the Tánaiste allowed the situation to continue to crisis point? On what basis does she believe she has the right to delegate to retired judges, GSOC and the courts functions that are her responsibility in law, namely, to hold the Commissioner to account?

I would have thought the Court of Appeal's ruling today would have been an intense reminder to Members that we should take stock and reflect before making allegations in the House. The good name and reputation of all individuals deserve respect and fair procedures. The Deputy is making various points about a report a judge is currently conducting and which is due next week. She has stated she has access to details of it. I do not. It is an independent report by a judge. As the House is aware, I appointed Mr. Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill to review allegations of wrongdoing set out in some protected disclosures made to me. In addition to reviewing the allegations, Mr. Justice O'Neill has been asked to report on his conclusions, in a preliminary report, and make any recommendation he considers necessary on further action deemed to be appropriate or warranted. The report and review have been commenced and the judge was asked to report within six weeks. He will report next week and I have no reason to believe this deadline will not be met. As soon as I receive the report, I will consider it very carefully and examine the recommendations made. The Government will decide on future action to be taken on the points made by the Deputy.

I asked Mr. Justice O'Neill to conduct this review because I was very concerned, as I have stated in the House previously, about the content of the material I had received. That is why I decided this should be done.

The Garda Commissioner has indicated publicly that the Garda Síochána will co-operate fully with any examination of these matters. How the judge conducts his business during these six weeks is a matter for him. I will get the report, I will examine it and I will decide on action relating to the issues he has examined. It was thought that, as a first assessment, it would be extremely useful to ask a judge to examine the material that was given to me. If, for any reason, he has concerns about the level of co-operation I have no doubt he will make them very clear. I will read his report with great interest when I receive it next week.

It is my desire to ensure that every leader has an opportunity to raise matters of important public concern and Deputy Daly is doing that. However, we have absolute privilege and we should be very careful how we use that absolute privilege. It has been a long-standing precedent that we do not make allegations against people outside the House. The Deputy referred to protected disclosures and they are certainly in the public media but she has made specific allegations about a committee being misled by the Garda Commissioner. I think that is inappropriate, it is not something we should do and it is certainly not something the Deputy should now repeat.

I take my responsibility very seriously in this regard and I repeat, very firmly, that nothing I said was an allegation or a use of privilege. I gave details of facts which can be supported by evidence and I have no problem standing over any of those points.

The Tánaiste made the point that it is up to the judge to carry out the inquiry as he sees fit but he can only do that within the confines of the powers he has. Can the Tánaiste confirm to the House that the judge has been given the authority to request the electronic information that supports the allegations at the heart of these matters? People's good names are very important and at the heart of this matter are the muddying and tarnishing of the good name of Sergeant Maurice McCabe. This is also about the horrendous nightmare that is being experienced by current members of An Garda Síochána who have made protective disclosures and I am not only talking about those whose names are in the public domain. I and Deputy Wallace recently met with a further six serving members of An Garda Síochána who have all either made protective disclosures or are on the verge of doing so. What part of this situation does the Tánaiste think is normal or okay? We have an enormous crisis of confidence inside An Garda Síochána, primarily and largely centred on the role of the Garda Commissioner. The civilian head of An Garda Síochána, GSOC and the courts are investigating these matters but the Tánaiste seems to be okay with delegating to others her legal responsibility for doing precisely that and she will not get away with it.

I have made sure that if allegations arrive on my desk they are appropriately handled. I want to ensure that whistleblowers feel a confidence in coming forward and every action I have taken has been targeted at ensuring that whistleblowers in An Garda Síochána are dealt with appropriately and properly. The actions of the Garda Commissioner in working with Transparency Ireland and in implementing the new policy have been to ensure that whistleblowers feel supported if they come forward. Many challenges are facing An Garda Síochána and this and the last Government have taken steps to ensure bodies exist with independent responsibility to monitor, assess and discuss with An Garda Síochána the various issues which arise. That is why we set up an independent Garda authority, the first time we have ever had an independent authority responsible for oversight of the work of An Garda Síochána. Members of this House have consistently called for independent bodies to monitor the work of gardaí, to take account of the various initiatives in which they are involved and to look at policies and their implementation. We now have the Policing Authority and GSOC, which is responsible for investigating complaints. I will not take any actions that will cut across the work of the independent bodies that Members of this House sought.