Paul Murphy taking questions on Jobstown to allow politicians grill Niall Collins ruled out
People Before Profit Paul Murphy TD. Picture: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie
The Taoiseach has ruled out Niall Collins taking questions in the Dáil in exchange for People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy doing the same concerning a protest in 2014.
Leo Varadkar said it would be “cynical” and “unacceptable” for the exchange to happen.
Earlier on Thursday, Mr Murphy said he will answer Dáil questions on the Jobstown protests if it means politicians get a chance to probe Fianna Fáil junior minister Niall Collins.
This followed sharp exchanges in the Dáil on Wednesday as members of the opposition hit out at Mr Collins for refusing to answer questions on the sale of land in 2007 which his wife had expressed interest in buying.
Mr Murphy labelled last week's statement by Mr Collins as “unsatisfactory”, calling on him to once again come before the Dáil.
But the Taoiseach hit back at Mr Murphy, stating: “If TDs are going to come in here and account for their actions that are not related to their ministerial functions, why is it Deputy, you didn’t come in here? You detained two women against their will in Dublin South seven years ago."
Mr Murphy was one of six men charged with falsely imprisoning former tánaiste Joan Burton and her adviser for three hours during a water charges protest in Jobstown in 2014.
The six defendants were cleared of all charges by the jury at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
Mr Murphy said the Taoiseach’s statement was “scandalous” and “another abuse of Dáil privilege”.
Reacting to Mr Murphy's letter to the Ceann Comhairle about taking question on Thursday, Mr Varadkar said: “I think that's cynical, and I think that's unacceptable. He's either willing to come in and take questions and make a statement in relation to his conduct, his ethics, or what he did at that time, I don't think it should be conditional on what somebody else does. I think that's really cynical, quite frankly.”
Although the Taoiseach ruled out Niall Collins taking questions on the sale of land in 2007 which his wife had expressed interest in buying, he said he would “facilitate” the questioning of Mr Murphy.
“At the time, he didn't come into the Dáil and didn't answer any questions. If it is the case that he's now written to the Ceann Comhairle and has offered to come into the Dáil and to take questions. Well, we'll certainly facilitate the Q&A,” he said.
Acknowledging that Mr Murphy was acquitted of the wrongful imprisonment of Ms Burton and her advisor, the Taoiseach said: “That doesn't mean that what he did was right”.
“It doesn't mean that what he did was ethical and doesn't mean that what he did was in line with the code of conduct for TDs,” he said.
In his letter, Mr Murphy said the implication of the Taoiseach's Dáil remarks was that "I have somehow refused to answer questions about the Jobstown protest previously. That is not the case".
"I'm not aware of any previous requests to the Business Committee for a question and answer session with me in relation to the Jobstown protest or any other matter," he added.
Separately, the Taoiseach said “a lot of progress was made” on Wednesday among coalition leaders on the implementation of facial recognition for gardaí.
Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has previously warned that public trust in the force risks being eroded if legislation to pave the way for the use of the technology is rushed through.
The Greens want any roll-out of the technology to be done through a standalone law, which would take significantly longer than the amendment being pushed by Justice Minister Simon Harris.
Although there are concerns among all three parties, the Taoiseach said the leaders had a “good discussion”.
“In all three parties in government, there are concerns about this technology. It's a new technology. There are concerns about how it could be abused and people in all three parties have some of those concerns. But there's also a desire in all three parties to make sure that the gardaí have the tools and technology they need to detect serious crime. So it's about getting that balance,” he said.
He was speaking at the official opening of Salesforce tower on Dublin’s north docklands.
Speaking at the opening, the Taoiseach said pessimism surrounding Ireland’s economy up to a year ago may have been “a little displaced” saying the numbers are beginning to look a “little bit better”.
Mr Varadkar noted plans to improve public infrastructure in terms of public transport and housing saying “We’re quite far behind where we need to be in this country in terms of infrastructure.” He said among the reasons for this was Ireland’s rapidly growing economy and population.
He noted plans for the Metro “to the airport and beyond” as well as electric dart carriages which will begin to arrive next year in addition to the bus connects project.
“That’s when we’ll really see Dublin transformed in terms of public transport but there will be a lot of digging up and tunnelling in the meantime but it will be a very different place in terms of public transport in 10 or 15 years,” he said.
Mr Varadkar said Dublin will become “much more what you would expect from a major European city.”
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