Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17 ============================================================ Gary Gannon (SD), Dublin Central I join Deputies across the House in condemning yesterday's assault on Deputy Michael Healy-Rae. I wish him a speedy recovery and send best wishes to him and his family. Last night's "RTÉ Investigates" programme was shocking. It showed that the oppressive and vindictive culture that existed when Maurice McCabe was targeted for speaking out has not been rooted out of An Garda Síochána. We heard credible allegations that Garda personnel who raised concerns were isolated, undermined and penalised. Again and again, protecting the institution appeared to take priority over investigating what had been reported. The concerns were not trivial. They included firearms and ammunition being stored in appalling conditions, warnings about unsafe holsters being ignored, the refusal to technically examine the holster worn by Detective Garda Colm Horkan when his firearm was taken and used to murder him and alleged interference with a protected disclosure file concerning a shotgun which disappeared from Garda custody and was returned to criminal hands. Most extraordinary, the people working in the Garda office responsible for protecting whistleblowers became so disturbed by what they witnessed that they became whistleblowers themselves. Deputy McEntee was Minister for Justice while much of this was happening. A new Garda protected disclosure office became operational on 6 January 2025. The establishment of that office was public knowledge, but the public announcement said nothing about what was happening to the existing office. We were not told its permanent and experienced personnel were being excluded, that outstanding confidential files were being transferred to a new team or what safeguards were being put in place to protect the continuity and confidentiality of those files. This restructuring was directed by the former Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, so my question to the Minister is precise. Before the change took effect, was the Minister or her Department told the existing personnel would be removed from the office and that their outstanding protected disclosure files would be transferred to a new team? If she was told, what questions did she ask? Did she seek assurances that those files would be protected and no member of staff would be penalised for raising concerns? If she was not told, does she believe the former Garda Commissioner complied with his statutory obligation under section 41 of the Garda Síochána Act to keep the Minister and her Department fully informed of significant developments capable of damaging public confidence in An Garda Síochána? Operational independence gave the Commissioner control of the decision. It did not release him from his duty to account for it or to keep the Minister fully informed. The Taoiseach yesterday suggested he could not comment because these matters involved protected disclosures, as did the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade today, but confidentiality protects the whistleblower, not the Government or senior Garda management, from having to account for their failings. This is not about revealing the context of any disclosure. It is about whether the system established to protect whistleblowers was purposefully undermined. I do not think anyone who watched the RTÉ documentary last night decided we could continue as we are. What measures does the Government intend to take to ensure this is investigated thoroughly? Not a single person here believes we can just revert the investigation of these disclosures to Garda management. What does the Government intend to do about it? What exactly was the Minister informed of by the former Garda Commissioner Drew Harris about the change in the office personnel? --- 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/2026-09-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-09-17