TDs: Time for radical overhaul of law and order

A radical overhaul of how law and order operates was demanded by opposition TDs in the wake of Alan Shatter’s departure as justice minister.

With a series of controversies finally forcing Mr Shatter from Cabinet, critics said there was an opportunity to bring in wide-ranging reform of policing and justice.

Independent TD Clare Daly said Mr Shatter had been forced out by a string of mistakes and misjudgments regarding justice, not just because of the findings of the Guerin report into whistleblower allegations.

Ms Daly said now was the moment for wholesale reform of the Garda operates following a spate of scandals involving telephone taping and the way whistleblowers are treated.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams insisted Taoiseach Enda Kenny had not come clean about the circumstances surrounding Mr Shatter’s resignation.

Mr Adams said it appeared the Taoiseach had sacked the minister rather than Mr Shatter going of his own accord. He said the change in personnel at the top of the justice department should usher in a new era of gardaí accountability with the intro-duction of a “21st-century policing service”.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Niall Collins insisted the Government needed to move quickly to restore garda morale, and public faith in the force.

“We need to have a timescale in relation to an independent policing authority; a timescale for the ramping up of powers of GSOC, the oversight agency,” Mr Collins said.

“We also need to have a timescale for the appointment of a new garda commissioner; we need the commission of investigation, which has been promised and adequate terms of reference in relation to that.”

Independent TD Mick Wallace, who had long demanded Mr Shatter’s resignation, insisted that he took no pleasure in his former adversary’s demise.

The Wexford TD said that he respected the former minister’s ability and intelligence, as well as his pro-choice stance and stance on same-sex marriage. However, Mr Wallace admitted, referring to his string of bust-ups with Mr Shatter: “I wouldn’t have been looking to go for a drink with him.”

The appointment of Frances Fitzgerald to the justice portfolio was welcomed by the National Women’s Council. NWC director Orla O’Connor said the move was “significant” and described the new minister as a “fighter” for equality.

“I think that the human rights agenda is going to be very important in terms of her equality brief” she told RTÉ.

Dáil reaction

* “Restoring confidence and integrity to the Irish justice system now becomes the number one priority for the new minister. As head of Government, I want transparency and accountability in our public service. It goes to the heart of what we all seek to achieve here in the House in representing the Irish people.” — Enda Kenny

* “We have been denied even the most basic information about how the Taoiseach and Deputy Shatter effectively pushed a Garda commissioner into resignation. This shows a lot, but does not demonstrate a respect for accountability.”

— Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin

* “We wish the new ministers well but we will not be supporting the nomination for the position because we do not believe the Government has learned lessons from the events which led up to the resignation of the former minister. The problems will not be resolved by rearranging the deck chairs.”

— Sinn Féin

* “I, for one, take no pleasure in Deputy Shatter’s fall from grace. I respect his ability, intelligence, appetite for work, his stand on pro-choice and same-sex marriage, but we have a very different philosophy on life. I wouldn’t have been looking to go for a drink with him.”

— Independent TD Mick Wallace

* “The sheep in the backbench corrals endorsed, underwrote, and validated everything the former minister did. Only a few weeks ago, the entire cohort of Fine Gael and Labour deputies endorsed, underwrote, and validated the former minister when they trooped into the Chamber to vote for him without even an audible bleat of dissent.”

— Socialist TD Joe Higgins