Response to justice amendment and proposals
The Leader said he was open to a justice debate, defended whistleblower protections and reiterated that the Taoiseach would come to the House. He also rejected the proposed Order of Business amendment and answered points on Waterford regeneration and the Taoiseach's attendance.
I am very happy to have a debate on justice in this House on behalf of my party. We have never been found wanting in terms of protecting the State, members of An Garda Síochána and the rights of all citizens-----
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Protecting the State at any cost.
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The former Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, introduced the legislation for the protection of whistleblowers and set up the disclosures tribunal to get to the full facts. That is all I am interested in. I am not interested in obfuscation.
I made the point in this House on two occasions last week that the Department of Justice and Equality is dysfunctional. I do not condone or support any Department that fails to give documentation to a tribunal. I am on the record in this House, long before the Tánaiste resigned today, about the fact that there needs to be full disclosure to the tribunal. I have only one motivation, namely, that the truth emerges and that the McCabe family receives justice. I have no other motivation and would be very happy to have that debate. When the former Tánaiste was Minister for Justice and Equality, she established the Toland review. The Taoiseach asked for a trawl within the Department to ensure that all documentation was produced and presented.
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We will have him in for a debate next week, so.
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I will not take a lecture from anyone on that side of the House about justice, truth and trust. Those of us on this side of the House have always been about the pursuit of truth. Whatever our differences with Fianna Fáil, ideologically or politically-----
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Has the Taoiseach been telling the truth for the last week?
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What about misleading the Dáil?
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-----differences between ourselves and Fianna Fáil, we have one thing in common. We will serve the people in a responsible manner and that is what we try to do. Senator Ó Clochartaigh's party will not go into government anywhere.
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It is about time the party manned up and took its responsibilities seriously. I will not be accepting the proposed amendment to the Order of Business.
In response to Senator Boyhan, I would remind him that I have asked the Taoiseach to come to the House. We are in the process of finalising that and I hope he will be here before Christmas. If he cannot come before Christmas, he will come to the House early in the new year. It is our desire to have him come in before Christmas.
Senator Grace O'Sullivan raised the issue of the regeneration of Waterford and the North Quay development but the Senator neglected to mention that it was the former Minister of State at the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, now Senator Paudie Coffey, who set up the strategic development zones which will enable this development to go ahead.
But like Senator O'Sullivan-----