I am conscious that this is the last time the Taoiseach will take Leaders' Questions. I am also conscious there has been a rebirth lately, with the prevailing narrative being that history will be kind to him. However, when the dust settles, his legacy will be stained by the manner in which he handled the departure of the previous Garda Commissioner, a stain which has obviously cast a shadow over his willingness or ability to deal with the present one. I put it to him, genuinely, that it is not too late to change tack. It is not too late to act in the interests of An Garda Síochána.

Last week under freedom of information legislation I received information from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. It shows very clearly that officers in An Garda Síochána were well aware in 2014 that every breath test machine had a running total of the number of breath tests each time it was calibrated and that each machine was returned to a station with a form outlining the numbers. The Garda actually had the information all along which the Garda Commissioner told us that it had only received in March this year and responded to promptly and loads of gardaí knew about it. The whistleblower Nick Keogh also received information last week under freedom of information legislation, which showed that in September 2016 written reports were being sought for the Commissioner on his treatment and the bullying and harassment to which he was being subject. The Commissioner denied this at the justice committee.

At the Committee of Public Accounts this morning we are getting an insight into the open warfare between the civilian heads and the Garda hierarchy. This is unsustainable. The auditor for the Garda is being deliberately obstructed in his work and that is without even mentioning the missing phone. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to know that to lose one phone is careless but to lose two smacks of perverting the course of justice. That is what it is, particularly when we know that the owner of the phone was the very person charged by the Minister with ensuring the retention of data and that new procedures be put in place after the old Commissioner had lost his phone. Come on - it has gone too far at this stage. No matter what way we look at it, it is a sackable offence.

It is very clear that the tactic being used by the Commissioner in the O'Higgins investigation to impugn the motivation of Sergeant Maurice McCabe and undermine his testimony will be replicated in the Charleton inquiry, with Dave Taylor being scapegoated this time. The work of the commission is being deliberately and consciously undermined, as we have known for some time through the existence of the tribunal liaison group inside An Garda Síochána to filter the information given to Mr. Justice Charleton. The continuance of this group is a threat to the effective operation of the Charleton inquiry. What will the Taoiseach do about it? Does he think it is acceptable that a commission set up by this House is having its work undermined? I do not think it is fair for him to leave the decision to remove the Commissioner to either Simon or Leo. A sign of a good leader is someone who says he or she can change his or her mind. It is not too late for the Taoiseach to ask the Commissioner to stand down.

We have had a lot of discussions about this issue already. The Government made the decision, which the Houses accepted, that the Charleton inquiry should be set up. As I pointed out to Deputy Mick Barry yesterday, the appointment of Mr. Justice Charleton was exceptionally appropriate, having dealt with the Morris tribunal for over a decade in County Donegal. I prefer to let him and his commission do their work. I do not know whether the allegation about the particular phone being missing is true or not, but the justice has set out the timescale and the hearings that are to take place. There will be public hearings of the commission in July on this very issue. The Committee of Public Accounts is meeting this morning and I have heard some of the comments made about the discrepancies in some of the contributions being made. Be that as it may, the House has set up a commission of investigation, a tribunal, to deal with this matter and no better person than Mr. Justice Charleton to deal with it. The Deputy's question about the previous Commissioner was the subject of a full-scale commission of investigation which made its judgment and ruling. Obviously, the current Commissioner is one of the people whom I named yesterday as having legal representation at the Charleton inquiry. The hearings will take place in public in July, which is not too far distant. I expect Mr. Justice Charleton to find out the veracity of the allegations, the facts and the truth. That is why he was appointed.

The Taoiseach is not an unintelligent man, which leads me to believe he is actually being deliberately obtuse in this scenario. I have no problem with Mr. Justice Charleton doing his job. What I have a problem with is others actively and deliberately trying to undermine and frustrate his efforts to do that job, the facts of which the Taoiseach says he does not know. I do know. Let us park the phone issue for now. Let us look at the existence of the tribunal liaison group, a clearing house of hand-picked loyalists who have been employed or seconded inside An Garda Síochána to filter the information being given to Mr. Justice Charleton. The Taoiseach has not commented on this. Does he have a problem with the fact that civilians are being employed in An Garda Síochána to deal with this outside the protocol which requires the Policing Authority to be informed? Why were they picked? What is going on? The Taoiseach cannot dodge the issue as it will actually stain his legacy and I feel bad for him because of it. It might make one of the two lads seem like a hero when in a couple of weeks' time the decision will be made by one of them. It is really not fair to the civilian members and ordinary gardaí that the force is falling down around them every day while the Taoiseach sits and does nothing.

The Deputy completely underestimates the capacity of Mr. Justice Charleton who is the sole member in charge of a full tribunal. He is not the kind of person who will be led astray by filtered information. Believe me, if the Deputy is suggesting the tribunal liaison group is deliberately filtering information to him that is either irrelevant or not meaningful, he is not the kind of person who will let it pass by.

I have every faith in Mr. Justice Charleton doing 100% of what he has been appointed to do. He is not the type of person to accept information that might be filtered or which he might be asked to accept as being the full truth. His job is to find that out and I have 100% faith in him doing that. The people who appear before him had better be very clear in the answers they give him.