I want to send my solidarity with the girl who apparently was sexual assaulted and to her family. I hope she gets the care as well.

I wish to ask the Taoiseach something related to gender-based violence. There was a report by Village magazine and The Ditch yesterday that a garda, who was corrupt and violent towards his wife and another woman, was awarded a medal of bravery from An Garda Síochána in 2021. I do not know why this was not widely reported at the time but it is being reported now. How is it that a disgraced garda who had to resign from the force was brought back for a Scott medal of bravery - the highest medal that one can get? How seriously is gender-based violence taken when a garda - the State had to apologise to his wife for the abuse she suffered - is brought back for such an award? Is it acceptable that Government Ministers presenting such awards would not look into the background of such people, particularly the Minister for justice who is responsible for the gardaí, law and gender-based violence?

Noel McMahon was a detective. The Morris tribunal found that he planted hoax bombs and ammunition across the north west of Ireland in the 1990s to make himself look good for catching the IRA.

He bought illicit drugs and planted them in a nightclub in Donegal, and then organised Garda raids. The nightclub owner went to jail because of this. Let us not forget that. It was a miscarriage of justice. The man later got a certificate.

On top of this, the detective assaulted two women that we know of. His own wife was a victim of years of abuse. He used his official Garda firearm to point to her head and say he was going to blow her brains out. That is what she testified later on at the tribunal. Noel McMahon used his firearm against his wife and he also faked a court safety order against her. Her children were placed into care, Taoiseach. She lost custody of her children because of the actions of this man. Can the Taoiseach imagine the damage that was done to them and to her? Lawyers on behalf of the State, on behalf of the Minister for Justice, in 2018 had to issue a State apology to the woman and damages as well.

How does a garda, a bent copper by anyone's standards, a crooked cop, end up getting a Scott medal of bravery only three years after such a State apology? In 2021, Deputy Micheál Martin was Taoiseach. I do not know if he was aware of this award. His acting Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys, presented the award and called his acts heroic, absolutely heroic. Should a Minister for Justice not do some due diligence? Will the Taoiseach revoke the award now?

First of all, I appreciate the Deputy raising what is a serious issue, without question. I read part of that report yesterday. I cannot say I was aware of that as Taoiseach back then but there was a lot happening. The Deputy has just asked me right now. Having looked at the report yesterday, obviously the Garda must have put this individual forward for the Scott medal of bravery in respect of the kidnapping of Don Tidey, which, as the Deputy knows, resulted in the murder of Private Kelly and a Garda recruit who was just a recruit from Templemore, Garda Sheehan. They were murdered by the Provisional IRA. In fact, the murderers were subsequently lauded too by that organisation and by their political supporters, which does not excuse what happened here but that should also sometimes get mentioned in reference. We owe a tribute to Tommy Conlon and Ronan McGreevy who wrote a very honest book about the kidnapping of Don Tidey and the brutal murder of a garda and an Army person.

That said, I too would question. I do not want to talk about an individual who is not in the House, but there are factors that the Deputy has articulated in respect of the Morris tribunal, which we are all very familiar with. That tribunal was the catalyst for a lot of change within An Garda Síochána. Some appalling acts were uncovered by the Morris tribunal, no question about that, and the conclusions were very stark and grave indeed. So, in the context of that, yes, I think it is a fair question to ask. That is a matter that happened quite a number of years ago. I think it has surfaced now because of the presidential election, if we are all honest. It was written in such a way to target an officeholder at the time. There are nonetheless legitimate questions. I would accept that. Obviously, a person is dealt with in terms of either a tribunal or subsequent actions to a tribunal, but then in relation to other acts of bravery that a person may have committed separate altogether from the misdeeds that the person may have committed, is the person entitled to that award? Particularly in the context of domestic violence and the horrific nature of the violence in this case, I think that is a very fair point to raise. I certainly would have issues with that myself as well.

Gardaí who are corrupt, who pervert the course of justice over and over and over again, should not be awarded a medal of bravery for one act.

There was no need. He could have been excluded from the award and the other gardaí could have been presented with their awards. What happened to zero tolerance for gender-based violence when the gardaí who are meant to deal with it are guilty of it themselves? There is a high rate, unfortunately, of intimate partner violence among the police and armies internationally. That is a statistic. Apparently, there have been 60 cases involving sexual misconduct in the last three years in An Garda Síochána. Will the Taoiseach call in the Garda Commissioner? I know it was the former Garda Commissioner who presented this but will the Taoiseach consider revoking this award and sending a message to gardaí and to people in general that violence against women is not acceptable? This garda should not have got an award. He should be in jail. Why is he not in jail? Do no rules apply to gardaí who commit crime?

I am not justifying what happened. I have made that clear. Certainly, in her time in government, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, did a lot of work as Minister for Justice in respect of domestic violence and gender-based violence. We now have the establishment of Cuan and the new strategy, which I strongly supported as chair of an interdepartmental Cabinet subcommittee, as Taoiseach at the time. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is continuing that and is bringing in further measures and allocating further resources to this area, in terms of a zero-tolerance approach to domestic violence. We do not prosecute in this House. We have a separation of powers in respect of the criminal justice system. It is not within my powers to revoke particular awards but certainly it is a matter on which we will reflect. I am not in a position to commit to any line of action in respect of this. I think it is a fair matter to raise. There has to be zero tolerance of domestic violence and gender-based violence more generally.