I want to raise the issue of the Government's commitment to funding for the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission, GSOC. We are all agreed, and I have just said, that sections of An Garda Síochána treated Joanne Hayes and her family in a disgraceful way. I remember the case and a friend of mine, the late Steve McDonogh, published a book highlighting how Joanne was treated. Yesterday, I raised concerns about funding and resources available to GSOC as the lead agency to investigate allegations against An Garda Síochána. The Taoiseach glibly replied that he did not know of any public body which did not want more staff. This is in the face of Ms Justice Ring saying she cannot conclude investigations arising from protected disclosures. We are also all agreed that there are lessons to be learnt from the Kerry babies tragedy. One of the lessons would be to address the concerns raised by Ms Justice Ring and I ask the Tánaiste to do that. For her to say she cannot bring investigations to a conclusion is very damning and should not be dismissed.

I accept that there are funding challenges for GSOC and that is why we have seen a significant increase in the allocation for 2018 over that for 2017. The Minister for Justice and Equality has made it clear he intends to ensure GSOC has the resources it needs to do the obvious work it needs to do.