I join other colleagues in sympathising with Senator John Kelly on the death of his father. Senator Aideen Hayden and I attended the funeral in Roscommon this morning. I know the Senator appreciates the kind concerns of colleagues on his bereavement.

I again call for a debate on the issue I raised last week, namely, the recording of telephone calls in Garda stations, a serious issue which has been ongoing for the past 30 years. It is welcome that a commission of investigation will be established to investigate the extent and implications of this practice. This has been ongoing throughout the terms of office of different Governments and Ministers for Justice and different Garda Commissioners. The extent of the knowledge of all of these individuals has not yet been ascertained, but it would worth hearing. It is also welcome that we will now have an independent policing authority and that, through the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, we will see other reforms in regard to the oversight of An Garda Síochána. I hope we will at last see reform of the procedures and processes of An Garda Síochána to ensure we will not see a repeat of such practices in the future.

I, too, express sympathy to Senator John Kelly on the sudden death of his father, Kevin. I know he is very pleased with the support he has received from his colleagues on the death of his father.

I support Senator Ivana Bacik's call for a debate on the issue of the taping of telephone calls to a number of Garda stations. One of the advantages in travelling to Senator John Kelly's father's funeral was that we had the pleasure of listening to the debate on radio while travelling to and from Roscommon. It troubles me sometimes to hear Fianna Fáil supporters, in particular, talk out of both sides of their mouths. The bottom line is that a commission of inquiry will get to the bottom of what has been going on in the past 30 years. It seems that while we do not have MI7 here, we have MI27 which sits in some bunker somewhere in the centre of town listening to telephone conversations of which nobody else is even remotely aware. In 2008 the then Minister sanctioned new equipment for this service. He is now telling us that he was handing out money like snuff at a wake and did not notice he had spent €500,000 on this service. It is important that we have this debate and that we are not deflected from having a proper commission of inquiry.

In regard to the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, one must sometimes wonder what is going on in the public domain. It is a little like the situation in "The Importance of Being Ernest" when Lady Bracknell said, "To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness." I suspect that, rather than focusing on some of the real issues, somebody is sticking one too many banana skins in front of the Minister. We need to look a little further into this issue than the noses on our faces.