The second Fennelly report into the telephone recordings at Garda stations has been published. It outlines clearly that these recordings were unlawful, but it must also be said that the consequences of such unlawfulness were very significantly overestimated at the time by the Attorney General. I recall the meeting about this issue to which the Taoiseach summoned Deputy Adams and me. Essentially, the Taoiseach advised at that stage that the entire criminal justice system could break down, convictions would be overturned and entire court proceedings would be rendered null and void. More serious than that, it is very clear that the alarmist and over-reactive response of the Government forced the removal of a Garda Commissioner on that specific issue. The Secretary General of the Department of Justice and Equality was sent out on a Monday evening by the Taoiseach to tell the then Commissioner that the Cabinet could no longer have confidence in him and would not be able to have confidence in him the following day arising from this issue, notwithstanding that, as the report clearly confirms, the Commissioner was about the only person who acted appropriately in respect of this issue. As soon as the Commissioner became aware of the practice, he insisted that it be stopped and wrote to the then Minister for Justice and Equality about it. The Attorney General bypassed the Minister for Justice and Equality and went straight to the Taoiseach to say that the heavens were about to fall and that something needed to happen.
It is extraordinary that an Attorney General would have bypassed a Minister for Justice and Equality in that context. I would appreciate the views of the Taoiseach on the propriety, both constitutionally and generally, of an Attorney General not bringing such a matter to the then Minister for Justice and Equality and the Government. When an Attorney General bypasses the Minister for Justice and Equality, it reveals a bizarre dysfunctionality at the heart of Government.
Would the Taoiseach accept that it was wrong to send the then Secretary General to the Garda Commissioner to tell him that the Cabinet could not have expressed confidence in him arising from these issues, essentially forcing the Commissioner's resignation on this issue? Does the Taoiseach accept that the failure of the Attorney General to inform the then Minister for Justice and Equality about the telephone recording issue was wrong and could not be defended? What is the Taoiseach's position on that?
The Taoiseach knows that the Attorney General knew about this issue as far back as October 2013 but it was March by the time the Taoiseach had been informed. Clearly, the Attorney General was alarmist and over-reactive on this issue. When the Taoiseach established the Fennelly commission, he made it clear that he wanted to restore confidence in the professionalism of An Garda Síochána. In essence, however, the Garda Commissioner had to go and the Minister for Justice and Equality fell on his sword subsequently, but the Attorney General has retained the confidence of the Taoiseach to the very end. Does the Taoiseach believe that the actions of the Attorney General on this issue were proper and appropriate?