An Garda Síochána: Motion [Private Members] Dail Éireann — 2026-03-25 ============================================================ Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary North Can I have that time back please? In the remaining time, I want to deal with the legacy issues. You cannot move forward unless you deal with legacy issues, and there is a huge number of them, particularly in the period of the previous Commissioner. I urge this Government to read the article in the Irish Independent yesterday by Denis Whelan, former superintendent, in which he talked about a culture of fear in An Garda Síochána. It was one of the best and most honest articles I have ever read from a garda who has just retired. He was a superintendent in Wexford, somebody whom my colleague, Deputy George Lawlor, knows very well, and who was brilliant at his job. He talked about a culture of fear. When I talk about legacy issues, I could talk about the importation of firearms under false instruments; defective ammunition; repair of privately owned guns by An Garda Síochána; the storage of firearms in Garda headquarters, which was a mess; the drugs that were found in Garda headquarters; and the lack of proper governance of DNA samples. I could talk about a whole range of other legacy issues. I could talk about the disgraceful way in which An Garda Síochána went after a garda because he lent a bike during Covid. That has now cost the State €400,000, and there was no bloody warrant to take the bike. Nobody seems to be acknowledging this. There was no warrant, and that farmer has never got retribution for the fact his property was entered without a warrant. That is on the record of the Dáil. I could also talk about the fact 17,000 live fingerprints have been lost, which means prosecutions have been lost across this State, yet An Garda Síochána will not acknowledge this has happened. I could talk about the dysfunctional nature of the Department of justice working with An Garda Síochána and the fact that I, as an opposition TD, had to ring the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, to tell him the guns that were put in the car Evan Fitzgerald was in were put in by An Garda Síochána. He did not know. I had to tell him. What sort of a functional relationship is it, where I have more intelligence than the actual Minister for justice? That whole case, that tragic case which should never have happened, will need to be investigated. I could also talk about the fact that, as I stand here, three gardaí who were suspended for years, are having their suspensions and the whole issue withdrawn in court in Limerick. That is 11 gardaí. The Minister for justice says there will not be an independent inquiry despite Deputy Crowe saying there should be, despite the Taoiseach saying there should be and despite the Tánaiste saying there should be. Who pulls rank? There has to be an inquiry in relation to these 11 gardaí. The Minister says calls for independent inquiries for every single court case brought against gardaí cannot become the norm. This is not an individual. This is 11. What happened here was a disgrace and will have to be investigated. Most of all, I can also talk about what I have raised here and in committee on numerous occasions in relation to how gardaí were given faulty holsters, the impact that has had on the lives of serving gardaí and the tragedy it has caused. This will haunt this Government and the previous Government. It will haunt this Minister, and it will haunt the Minister, Deputy McEntee. What will also haunt them is the manner in which they did not deal appropriately with protected disclosures that were made to them. I guarantee that it will come back to haunt these Ministers. I guarantee it. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:47+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-25