The public is genuinely shocked by the revelations of last week in regard to operational activities by An Garda Síochána, in particular the fact that 146,000 people were wrongly summoned to court for road traffic infringements and, of those, 14,700 received sanctions and convictions. It is a fundamental issue that undermines our criminal justice system, the relationship between our courts and gardaí, and the veracity of what they bring to the courts in terms of evidence.

Second, 1 million breath tests were falsely put up on PULSE. Essentially, in four years 1 million were actually done but gardaí were saying they did 2 million. It is a completely false figure. It is a very serious issue for a number of reasons, a fundamental one being the integrity of An Garda Síochána.

Of course, data and information of this kind informs policy, so the impression is out there that there is constant major attack on drink-driving, and that we are on top of it as we are doing 2 million breath tests, and so on. The reality is far from that, and it is arguable it neutered a policy response in regard to drink-driving. I can recall the former chairman of the Road Safety Authority, Gay Byrne, complaining about the lack of enforcement. Is this the response to the lack of enforcement - to falsify the figures?

Is it to create promotion opportunities? What is it? We do not know. We have not been told why the figures were falsified. The language in all the press releases is cautious, careful and designed not to tell us. Three years on from when this was initially told to the Garda by the Medical Bureau for Road Safety, we are told the Garda still has to try to find out what happened. We know that the Garda wrote to the Department of Justice and Equality in June 2016. What did the Minister do with that? Did she intervene at any stage up to last week? Why did the Minister for Justice and Equality not inform the Dáil about this issue? We learned that the Minister, Deputy Leo Varadkar, apparently received correspondence from Mr. Gay Byrne again, in his capacity as chairman of the RSA, from a whistleblower outlining all of this.

There are fundamental questions. Why did the Garda Commissioner not inform the Policing Authority? She met its representatives six times in the last year but did not inform them that an audit was under way nor of the scale of the revelations that were about to unfold. Why did the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, not inform the Dáil and intervene much earlier? I ask that all correspondence that the Minister received from the Garda on this issue be published and made available to Dáil Members. How can the Taoiseach still express confidence in the Commissioner and in the shambles that has unfolded in front of our very eyes?

A Government meeting concluded a short time ago. For the information of the House, the Government received a very detailed briefing from the Tánaiste this morning on the recent revelations regarding the Garda handling of matters relating to mandatory alcohol testing and to fixed charge notices. We also noted the public explanation given by senior gardaí, including the Garda Commissioner, over recent days. There was a very strong consensus in that discussion this morning that these revelations have given rise to the most serious concerns not just among public representatives but among the people generally. It is a matter of grave importance to our country that the Government, the Oireachtas and members of the public have faith and trust in the members of An Garda Síochána to carry out their duties fairly and impartially and in accordance with the laws of the land. It is crucial that the public can believe the statistics and other information provided by An Garda Síochána. That is why we are here as public representatives and as the Government.

It is absolutely essential, in my view, that a process of reform is rigorously implemented in An Garda Síochána and be seen to be implemented, including through the close oversight of the independent Policing Authority. People are aware that the Government has introduced a range of important reforms to policing in this State in recent years, including the establishment of the Policing Authority, additional powers for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, greater civilianisation, open recruitment and the provision of significant extra resources. The Garda Commissioner has also instituted a significant programme of internal organisation and reform, which is being overseen by the Policing Authority. However, I have to say that we continue to see a list of unacceptable revelations about the operations of An Garda Síochána, with these two issues being the very latest. The Government believes that the level of public concern is now so profound that it is time to conduct a thorough, comprehensive and independent root and branch review of An Garda Síochána.

One more.

This is clearly a proposal that will require further detailed consideration by Government. I also believe that such a proposition should have widespread support from the Oireachtas. I therefore propose that it should be the subject of consultation with the Opposition parties and, ultimately, approval by the Oireachtas. The Government will consider these issues again next week.

I should add that the Government continues to have confidence in the Garda Commissioner.

The Government also believes that there must be an external investigation into these two specific matters, not one internally conducted by An Garda Síochána. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality will revert on these matters later today during the Topical Issue debate she is dealing with.

The Taoiseach did not answer the questions I asked. Why did the Garda Commissioner not inform the Policing Authority? The Taoiseach spoke in his reply about the close oversight of the Policing Authority. It appears the authority was not informed. It is incredible. Under this radical new reform, the body that will take politics out of An Garda Síochána was not told.

Yesterday, we were told this was an administrative oversight. That is not credible. I asked the Taoiseach whether he could defend that. How does he explain it? Does the Taoiseach believe it is right that the Policing Authority was not informed?

I also asked the Taoiseach when the Minister for Justice and Equality was informed about all this. This has been going on since 2014. In 2015, Professor Cusack said that instead of 200,000 cases being recorded, the Garda had indicated that the figure was 400,000. It is clear to all and sundry that something is seriously wrong on a large scale with the data emanating from An Garda Síochána, but nothing has happened.

I am insisting that the Minister for Justice and Equality comes before the Dáil today to answer questions, not during the Topical Issue debate or anything like that. It should be done under private notice questions or some other context. The Minister should answer questions from the House in respect of this matter. It has been rather opaque so far in respect of the information leaking from An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice and Equality. We need far more transparency and serious accountability arising from these issues compared with what we have had up to now.

The Ceann Comhairle has made a decision in respect of the Minister answering questions in the House today. She will address the Topical Issue matter put forward by several Deputies.

I am asking the Taoiseach to volunteer the Minister and make her answer the questions directly.

Questions will apply under the Topical Issue debate.

The Minister will not answer questions

Deputy Martin does not attend for the Topical Issue debate. Questions are asked by Deputies at the end of their first contribution.

They are not. There is no questions and answers format during the Topical Issue debate. The Taoiseach should stop misleading the House.

Deputy Martin raised the issue of why the Policing Authority was not informed. However, the Government was not informed either.

The Government was informed.

We should consider the scale of it.

The Minister for Justice and Equality received a letter in June 2016. The audit was ongoing. The Department was back to the Garda Síochána on several occasions. The deputy commissioner, Mr. Twomey, dealt with that at a press conference and apologised for it. However, it is not good enough, as Deputy Martin points out, that the Policing Authority, which has independent oversight of An Garda Síochána, was not told about this. An apology has been issued. That is the real culture issue that needs to be dealt with. The audit is under way as well.

The Government has had six years to do it.

I am very unhappy about this situation. We now know that systems are in place to deal with these kinds of circumstances from now on.

It is not about systems; it is about people.

How do we deal with a situation where we have 153% over-estimation in figures in terms of breathalysers and so on? That issue, no more than the issue of people not receiving a letter, should be the subject of an external examination. The Government made that decision this morning. The Government will meet again next week to look at the broader implications of where we are with An Garda Síochána so that the people can have trust and confidence in a fundamental institution of the State.

Over recent days we have heard of yet another controversy surrounding the management and operations of An Garda Síochána. We have heard of 14,700 unsafe convictions for motoring offences and almost 1 million breath tests recorded on the PULSE system that were never carried out. This is simply another episode of scandal surrounding An Garda Síochána. Perhaps we should not be surprised by the latest debacle. It seems clear from the scale of the current controversy that malpractice was endemic. It was happening day in and day out.

As the Taoiseach has fully acknowledged, public confidence in the management and leadership of An Garda Síochána is now on the floor.

The refusal of the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality to take the required action and to call time on the rotten management culture in An Garda Síochána is a dereliction of their duties. The Taoiseach knows that the Garda Commissioner has to go. He knows that the fish rots from the head down. Those who tuned into the Commissioner's press conference yesterday were left in absolutely no doubt that the upper echelons of An Garda Síochána are rotten with arrogance and chronically unaccountable. The top brass, it seems, is prepared to brazen this one out. The Commissioner herself seems determined to brazen this one out. The question is whether the Taoiseach will allow that to happen. Anybody who believes that the dysfunctional culture in An Garda Síochána will change while the current Commissioner remains is, frankly, living in cloud cuckoo land.

Hear, hear.

The game is up. This is an absolute mess. With thousands of unsafe convictions and 1 million fabricated breath tests, serious questions therefore arise regarding any data, statistics or information produced by An Garda Síochána. The entire controversy undermines the very integrity of An Garda Síochána and flies in the face of what citizens expect from their policing service. We have had an almost casual response from a very detached Commissioner to circumstances that undermine confidence in citizens' most basic and fundamental rights. Only in Ireland would politicians be standing here today, debating whether the person who is ultimately responsible for all of this mess should remain in her job. The biggest mistake that the Taoiseach and the Minister could make is to leave Commissioner O'Sullivan in position. Everybody knows that she has to go. We have tabled a confidence motion in respect of the Garda Commissioner but the Government should not wait for that. It should not have to wait for a motion to be tabled by the Opposition. The Taoiseach needs to show real leadership and make that decision today. His Government must act decisively. Will the Taoiseach now take the first steps in restoring that vital public confidence by removing Commissioner O'Sullivan from her post?

I have already indicated the view of Government in respect of Commissioner O'Sullivan, who did an outstanding series of interviews. For the first time, interviews were independently conducted and applicants independently sought for appointment to the post of Garda Commissioner.

What has happened since?

This is not about an individual. It is about the structure, about all of the men and women who serve in An Garda Síochána and, more importantly, about those whom they serve, the people of our country. It does not take much to lose confidence in an institution. There are issues here that Deputies McDonald and Micheál Martin have rightly raised about fixed charge notices, breathalyser tests and the numbers actually carried out as against estimates and figures supplied. The Cabinet has made a decision that the analysis and the determination of the facts in regard to these two matters should and will be conducted by an external entity. It is much more important, in my view, that we collectively look at what it is that An Garda Síochána should become. We should examine that, through some sort of commission or entity, for the future because the restoration of confidence and trust is so important. Deputy McDonald knows that in so many areas around the country, outstanding work is being carried out by men and women who are so proud to serve in An Garda Síochána. We need to look beyond a personality, who happens to be the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána and look at the force, its role, responsibilities, actions, culture and the trust that people now have in gardaí. That is why the Government made a decision today that the analysis of the figures in respect of breathalyser tests and fixed charge notices should and will be conducted externally. The Government will meet again next week to consider the broader implications for the future of An Garda Síochána.

This really is a disgraceful and astonishing turn of events. The Taoiseach should not try to hide behind the good work of gardaí on the beat right across the country.

Very clearly, what is at issue here is the management and leadership within An Garda Síochána. We have heard many times the story about reform that the Taoiseach told again today. At this stage, with yet another scandal breaking, when senior management are revealed again to be incompetent and indifferent - certainly indifferent to the view of the Government or public - and when public confidence is on the floor, people expect the Government, including the Taoiseach, to act. This is not about an individual personality. It is not about Nóirín O'Sullivan as a woman; this is about Nóirín O'Sullivan as the Commissioner, the woman who is in charge. This is about the Commissioner failing to deliver on the reform agenda and, sadly, it is about An Garda Síochána being at such a low ebb and enjoying such low public confidence that the people to whom we speak will have no expectation or real enthusiasm for full reform.

The Taoiseach knows that the Commissioner has to go. Why is he delaying? Why does he refuse to do that which is his job? Is it because Brian Purcell is no longer available to him? Perhaps he does not have the bottle to do what he needs to do. Is it that he does not now have a senior civil servant to run and have a word in the Commissioner's ear? We have tabled a motion but the Taoiseach should not have to wait for that. The Taoiseach should do his job and relieve Nóirín O'Sullivan of her duties.

The Deputy's last comment was the subject of a sworn inquiry, which determined the outcome there. In respect of these issues here, it was pointed out at the press conference held by the senior members of An Garda Síochána that the solutions to the problems that were identified here, whereby figures are clearly not accurate or true, are now in place for 2017-18. We will find out the truth about the discrepancies here. We will find out what happened within the Garda traffic management system such that people did not receive letters giving them the option to accept their penalty points and pay their charge before they went to court. We will find out all that. It is also true to say that the Garda Commissioner herself pointed out that other issues may well arise in the future when a radical and surgical-----

The Taoiseach is not wrong there.

-----reformation of ongoing issues is undertaken. That is why the Government today reflected very seriously, despite Deputy McDonald's shaking of her head, on the structure and nature of the Garda force for years to come.

Absolute rubbish. Do your job.

We need to get this right and the Deputy and her party will have a part to play in this. The authorities will talk to the Deputy about it and to her leader, as with the leaders on this side. I hope we can have agreement from the Oireachtas about the nature of how we should have that process put in place to bring about a sense of confidence and trust among the ordinary people of the country in what is a fundamentally important institution of the State. Deputy McDonald might want to become narrowly political about this but I am much more interested in finding out the truth of these matters, which will be found by an external, independent analysis and examination, in a much broader sense, of where we want to be with An Garda Síochána to build that integrity and trust in order that those people who do their work to the highest standards-----

Nobody believes that.

-----will have pride in the uniform.

As somebody who worked very closely with the Taoiseach over five years, I can truly say that his responses to date on this matter are entirely inadequate. The facts need repeating, although they have been mentioned time and again. From 2006 to 2016, a total of 146,865 District Court summonses were issued in error and 14,700 of our citizens were brought before the courts and wrongly convicted. Some of them were told they were telling lies when they said they did not actually receive a summons. One should think of the impact that would have on their livelihood and families. All of this now has to be undone.

If that was not bad enough, there were 1 million wrongly recorded breath tests, the data of which informed our entire policing and road traffic policies over the years but were based on falsehoods. The chief executive of the Road Safety Authority has said the absence of credible and reliable enforcement metrics makes it almost impossible to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of road safety interventions. That is a critical issue in saving lives. The Road Safety Authority is not the only one concerned. Today, Professor Denis Cusack of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety clearly said that both in 2014 and August 2015, the Garda was alerted to the significant discrepancies between the amount of equipment used and the amount of breath tests recorded.

I listened carefully to the Taoiseach's response. He said we are going to have another in-depth root and branch review of An Garda Síochána. That was the response of the Independent Alliance to the last crisis a few weeks ago. That was its bolt-in to that. Of course, we have heard nothing of it since.

We have a Garda authority. I agree with the Taoiseach profoundly on this. Let us have political consensus to have fundamental reform implemented now. Is it good that nobody takes accountability for what we know, namely, that 14,700 of our citizens were wrongly convicted, 147,000-odd summonses were wrongly issued and 1 million breath tests were wrongly recorded? Is nobody to be accountable, responsible or answerable for that? Is it acceptable to the Taoiseach that we are going to have a three-month period now when the people who were in charge will review their own performance and tell us what happened, although they have been seised of this in some shape or form for three years?

Deputy Howlin and I agreed on several issues relating to this previously and he has been clear on that. It is not acceptable that people were wrongly convicted. It is not acceptable that people did not get a letter indicating the option of accepting the penalty points and paying their charge but were summoned to court. In some of those cases, those charges were dismissed because they did not get the letter. In other words, they were wrongly convicted. The Garda has now apologised for that. It should not have happened.

When the law was changed to allow for that option to apply, that should have been known and understood by every garda throughout the country. It was common sense that if somebody was caught for speeding or whatever the charge might be, the first thing would be that the person should receive a letter giving them the option that was open there.

I am talking about a system that will restore integrity, as well as public confidence and trust in An Garda Síochána. It is not just about a cultural analysis but about a perception of the people now. Who do we believe? Here are the figures and here are the estimates but they are grossly out of kilter with each other.

They were false.

The systems have been put in place, as was evidenced by gardaí in the past few days, to deal with that for next year and beyond. We need to find out what happened in this case? That can only be done by an external examination outside of An Garda Síochána.

That is rubbish.

It is a disgrace.

The Deputies opposite may well shake their heads. Somebody has to find it out, however, and that is what the Government decided this morning. It is not good enough that nobody is answerable here. Can we not determine what the facts are and the truth, more importantly, about those facts? I understand Deputy Ó Caoláin has summoned the Garda Commissioner to attend the justice committee at 9 a.m. on Thursday. I also understand the Commissioner will also be meeting with the independent Policing Authority shortly. It is open under the Act for the independent Policing Authority to contract persons to assist with its duties. That is not an executive function, but in respect of the oversight responsibility it has for the Garda. It is the Garda Síochána Inspectorate, which itself is independent under the chairmanship of Mr. Robert Olson, which conducts the investigations into issues like this.

These are matters that are under very serious consideration. From the Government's perspective, it is to take a broader view of the nature and structure of the Garda force for the years ahead in order that we can, for once and for all, try to put in place a system that will restore pride to the uniform and the trust and confidence of the ordinary people of the country. After all, the duty of Government is to have safety and security for the people and for the State and the Garda is a fundamental and central part of that.

The facts I set out at the beginning and which others have mentioned are not in dispute.

Precisely.

We do not need anybody to tell us that there were 1 million false breath tests were recorded or that there were 14,700 false convictions. They are facts and somebody must be accountable for those now.

As regards the notion that we will have another review, the Garda Inspectorate has published a series of very good reports. Almost 2,000 specific recommendations have been set out. Is it not now time to implement those rather than to set another body on another task of further reviews? Meanwhile the public are demoralised when it comes to understanding policing. Will the Taoiseach ask the Minister for Justice and Equality to bring legislation to the Houses as quickly as possible to empower the Policing Authority to draw up the implementation plan based on the Garda Inspectorate's report so that we can have the reform implemented and not talked about?

The Deputy made the point that these are facts.

Yes.

That is true but we need to find out how those figures were accumulated because if breath tests were carried out on the roadside, there was a process involved and there is clearly a major difference between the number of breath tests that were carried out and the number that were reported.

A difference of 100%.

If these figures are accurate in every region of the country-----

They cannot be facts and there then be a questioning of their accuracy.

-----then we need to know how that happened and on whose instructions that happened. I think that is a fundamental issue that goes to the heart of confidence-----

The Taoiseach is clutching at straws. It is most unedifying.

-----and integrity in An Garda Síochána and I am sure Deputy Howlin would think likewise.

Where does the buck stop on that?

While the figures in terms of discrepancy speak for themselves, the question that needs to be answered is how those figures were accumulated. In what circumstances were those figures put down? In what circumstances were they put on the Garda website?

Who is going to be held accountable?

These are the issues that need to be addressed not internally but externally.

Whether it was a cock-up or malice, somebody is accountable.

Ireland does not do accountability.

That is an issue that the Government decided should be done today and for the future. It is not a question of bringing in legislation for the Policing Authority. It has its oversight role by law-----

It is not strong enough.

-----and the inspectorate's report and the other reports are being overseen and implemented by the Policing Authority.

There is no onus on the Garda to implement the inspectorate's report.

My understanding is that the Policing Authority chairperson will meet the Garda Commissioner later this week and I am sure that is a matter that will be discussed by the two of them.

Thank you, Taoiseach. I call Deputy Bríd Smith.