Stop digging your heels in Taoiseach and tackle the issue
The words of Pat Rabbitte, the communications minister, on lunchtime radio yesterday alluded to the stubborn approach of Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, who has so far refused to withdraw his “disgusting” comments about gardaí who blew the whistle about the abuse of the penalty points system in the force.
The Labour minister’s words best captured the sort of approach that should have been taken by the Taoiseach and the justice minister months back, when the controversy first began to surface.
The intervention of Transport Minister Leo Varadkar this week has shown up the rest of his cabinet colleagues for the complete lack of leadership on the issue to date.
With every twist that the saga has taken, the response of Government has been to shut the story down and circle the wagons around Justice Minister Alan Shatter — with the help of some eager backbenchers willing to go on air to read briefing notes without any independence of mind.
It was no surprise then, that Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny slapped down Varadkar, a Fine Gael TD, this week. He spoke outside of the official line this week, publicly supporting the whistleblowers and thanking them for their contribution to road safety.
Rabbitte and Labour colleague Joan Burton later backed Varadkar’s call that Callinan withdraw remarks he made at the Public Accounts Committee in January, when he called the actions of the whistleblowers “disgusting”.
Rabbitte went a step further, suggesting Shatter withdraw his claim made in the Dáil last October that both whistleblowers failed to co-operate with an internal Garda inquiry into the quashing of penalty points.
“It seems to me that Minister Shatter was probably badly advised in terms of his initial statement. I can’t find the basis for understanding how it is that it can be stated the men didn’t co-operate with the inquiry,” he told RTÉ radio.
“It seems they didn’t have the opportunity to be heard by the inquiry. He was ‘misadvised’ on that,” said Rabbitte, who, some weeks back, was nominated by his Labour colleagues to talk to Shatter with a view to formulating a response on the issue.
The comments by three ministers, and supported by the Tánaiste, are at odds with what the Taoiseach has been saying in his backing of the justice minister, who in turn is backing the commissioner.
Asked about Callinan’s “disgusting” comments during his recent visit to Washington, Kenny said the commissioner had already clarified them. Asked three times during his US visit if the whistleblowers deserve an apology, Kenny refused to say.
He again tried to shut the scandal down yesterday when he said he would prefer if ministers raised issues at cabinet level rather than speaking about it publicly.
In contradictory comments, he said ministers should not be “restricted” in what they say, but that if they have concerns about the Garda controversy, they should raise it in cabinet meetings and not “air it in public”.
On the one hand, Kenny was saying the minister with responsibility for road safety — Varadkar — should not have publicly expressed his support for the people who brought to light the cancellation of tickets for driving offences.
But this is in contrast to his approach towards Shatter, whom he failed to reprimand for his public undermining of the whistleblowers when he erroneously told the Dáil they had failed to co-operate with the inquiry.
Kenny must know by now that this controversy is not going to go away. It followed him to the US last week, to Brussels yesterday, and is expected to top the political agenda when the Dáil resumes next week.
The Taoiseach has either misjudged — or simply ignored — the public mood on this matter, and was backfooted by his party’s youngest minister.
Serious political divisions have developed — not just between the coalition parties but within Fine Gael ministers — that can only serve to further undermine trust in the administration of justice and in the willingness of our Government to see that it is served.
It’s a situation that could have been avoided if leadership had been shown on the issue from the outset, rather than a policy of digging in heels.
