Gilmore expresses confidence in Minister for Justice

Issues being dealt with by the Garda should not be made public unless a prosecution is being taken, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has told the Dáil.

Mr Gilmore insisted however he had confidence in Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, in the Garda Commissioner and the force.

He was answering questions about the ongoing controversy over penalty points and comments by Mr Shatter about Independent TD Mick Wallace.

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Mr Shatter had not apologised to Mr Wallace over his remarks on RTÉ's Prime Time that the Wexford TD had received the benefit of Garda discretion after being seen using a mobile phone while driving.

Mr Gilmore said he had made a statement to the Dáil and responded to questions. “He has apologised and has said he was sorry. And frankly I think you should accept that,” he said to Mr Martin.

Public domain
He acknowledged there was an issue around privacy and said it needed a "longer and wider" discussion which could be addressed by an Oireachtas committee.

“It is certainly my view that issues that the Garda Síochána are dealing with should not come out into the public domain unless there is an actual charge or whatever, either through media or any other way.”

Mr Martin insisted, however, that Mr Shatter had refused to answer questions. “He didn’t apologise and he stood over the misuse of private information.”

Mr Shatter “thinks it’s okay to use private information the Garda Commissioner or gardaí gave to the Minister for Justice”.

The Fianna Fáil leader said, however, “what has happened since this issue has been raised is not pretty – one deputy being handcuffed and ending up in a prison cell . . . irrespective of whether you are uncomfortable by the issues raised by the deputies”. He said “no Minister should have done what the Minister for Justice did”.

Mr Gilmore insisted the Minister had addressed the issue and apologised and explained the rationale behind it. He acknowledged there was an issue around privacy and said an Oireachtas committee could deal with the issue of privacy.

ULA TD Clare Daly said the Tánaiste had chosen to repeat a false assertion, that claims made by the Opposition did not stack up even under the Garda's own inquiry.

Road traffic offences
Ms Daly said she had named a judge in the House, who sat in judgment on ordinary people for road traffic offences. The investigation found the judge had verbally petitioned the Garda and got three points written off and the report said there was not an adequate paper trail on that basis, she said.

Ms Daly added that “any convictions taken on foot of a prosecution by that garda in front of that judge are now unsound”.

Ms Daly said many gardaí did not have confidence in the commissioner. “There is serious evidence that whistleblowers were ignored, warned off and attempts made to be silenced.”

Asked by Ms Daly about confidence in Mr Shatter and the Garda, the Tánaiste said he had confidence in the Minister, in the commissioner and in the force.

He said “there are issues of legitimate public concern that the application of the law in respect of road traffic offences is applied evenly and fairly to everybody” and in some cases with a degree of common sense. “We should all ensure what we do and say contributes to this.”