The commission of investigation led by Mr. Justice O'Higgins was established to determine the veracity of very serious allegations of Garda malpractice made by Sergeant Maurice McCabe. Its establishment followed a long saga of harassment, poor treatment and attacks on the bona fides of Sergeant McCabe. When it emerged, following the conclusion of the commission of investigation, that the legal representative of the former Garda Commissioner was instructed to attack the motivation and integrity of Sergeant McCabe, people felt genuine shock and anger. That was not how it was meant to be. The O'Higgins inquiry was meant to be a new chapter in the way in which the allegations made by Sergeant McCabe were to be treated as well as in the way he was treated as a person. It was supposed to find out the facts of what happened and it was never meant to be an adversarial attack on his credibility and integrity as a person. We have now learned in various reports over the last number of days that the head of Garda HR was told "We are going to go after Maurice at the commission". It is also reported that a telephone call was made on 15 May from the former Commissioner to the Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality on the proposed legal strategy.

To be fair, Deputy Alan Kelly has tabled a number of parliamentary questions on this issue of the extent of consultation between the Department and the former Garda Commissioner, the extent and content of meetings and communications, if any, between the Department's officials and the former Commissioner and whether complaints were made to the Department about the legal strategy adopted and how it was adopted. In the normal course, questions like these should receive straightforward answers. The answer from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, is classic in the sense that he answered a question which he was not asked and failed to answer the questions he was asked by Deputy Kelly. Deputy Kelly has followed up with further questions which are very serious in nature and to which the answers will be serious too. In the context of a Parliament like this, it is very strange that replies are not being given. In an interview at the weekend, the Tánaiste refused to confirm or deny whether she was aware of this adversarial approach being taken at the O'Higgins commission. The Taoiseach said at the weekend that he would speak to the two Ministers. Has he spoken to the two Ministers, what has been their response, and can the Taoiseach bring clarity to this issue? Did the Tánaiste know about the attack on the integrity and credibility of Sergeant McCabe as per the legal strategy of the former Garda Commissioner?

The first thing that should be recognised is that we as a Government are committed absolutely to establishing the facts around these matters and this very sorry affair. That is why we established a commission of investigation in the first place and a tribunal thereafter. I assure the Deputy that those of us here on the Government benches want to know, as much as anyone in the House, the full facts as to what happened here, why Maurice McCabe was treated as he was and whether there was a campaign of vilification led against him by senior gardaí or anyone else.

To answer the Deputy's question, I spoke to the Tánaiste yesterday. She is currently in the United Arab Emirates on a trade mission. She confirmed to me that she had no hand, act or part in forming the former Commissioner's legal strategy, nor did she have any prior knowledge of the legal strategy the former Commissioner's team pursued. She found out about it after the fact, but around the time it was in the public domain when everyone else knew about it as well. The current Minister for Justice and Equality was not a Minister in the Department at the time and he also had no hand, act or part in, or prior knowledge of, the legal strategy being pursued by the former Commissioner's legal team.

The Department of Justice and Equality is a big place with many different people in it but, as things stand, the Department has not been able to find any record of being informed before the fact of the legal strategy the Commissioner was going to pursue. It was told about the approach taken by the Commissioner's senior counsel but that was after the cross-examination had taken place. The Department was not in a position, after the fact, to express concerns about it or counsel against it. The Deputy claims there was a call to the Secretary General on the day of the cross-examination but we have not been able to confirm if that is or is not the case. I think that perhaps it is not and that the assertion may be false but I do not want to swear to it today or until I can find out for certain. There may well have been a telephone call from the Commissioner's office to the Department on the day but it is not unusual for the Commissioner's office to contact the Department of Justice and Equality.

The former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, had no hand, act or part in the legal strategy and had no prior knowledge of it. She and the Department only found out about it after the cross-examination had already taken place.

The question relating to the phone call was tabled by Deputy Kelly but was not answered in the Minister's reply. It has taken quite a long time for us to ascertain that the Tánaiste did not have prior knowledge of the legal strategy. In the context of the commitment to establishing the truth about the engagement between the Department of Justice and Equality and the legal representatives or the Garda Commissioner, has the Department submitted all its documentation details of all the contacts between it and the former Garda Commissioner to the Charleton inquiry? The Taoiseach said the Government was committed to establishing the truth so I take it material has been sent by the Department to the Charleton inquiry on this specific matter.

The Minister for Justice and Equality informs me that he has written to the Ceann Comhairle this morning in relation to Deputy Kelly's questions and the Department will co-operate in full with any request for information received from the tribunal. I cannot tell the Deputy here today whether it has provided all the information asked for by the tribunal but it certainly will do so.

It is important to get the facts straight in relation to the terms of reference of the tribunal. The terms of reference of the tribunal, mandated to consider the questions put forward by Deputy Kelly, include:

To investigate contacts between members of An Garda Síochána and:

- Media and broadcasting personnel,- members of the Government,- TUSLA,- Health Service Executive,- any other State entities,

- or any relevant person as the Sole Member may deem necessary to carry out his work;

As the Department of Justice and Equality is a State entity it is covered by this tribunal and will co-operate with it in full.