I would like to use this opportunity, because I was not aware of the details last night, to wish our colleague, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, well. Any attack on an elected representative is an attack on our democracy. It is something we all need to condemn and push back on. I wish him and his family well. Like a lot of people here, I also watched the documentary last night. It covered a wide range of very serious matters over the past several years. Many of them, as was referred to in the programme, related to protect…

To be very clear - the legislation is very clear - while individuals may choose to talk about it, that does not allow us, legally, to talk about it. That is clearly set out in the legislation. Individuals chose to speak about it last night but that does not enable any other person to speak about it. I want to be very clear about that. The legislation was agreed by this House in 2014 and enhanced in 2022. What is really important about the legislation is that it was put in place to allow whistleblowers to come forwa…

-----so I made sure legislation was put in place to speed up the process. We all want to make sure there is a system in place that protects whistleblowers but we also need to make sure we adhere to the legislation. Finally, I will come back to the last point. There is an opportunity for this legislation to be reviewed. That will come up soon-----

-----and all stakeholders need to be included in it.

First, I will not be lectured to by a party whose history when it comes to protecting our gardaí is less than standard.

I have done everything in my role as Minister for Justice to protect gardaí and make sure that when they carry out their duties they have the resources they need and that the legislation is in place to protect them. That is always how I have carried out my work. It is how the current Minister carries out his work and how the Minister before me carried out his work. There is a clear process in place. There is a clear structure in place, which clearly outlines that, where matters are a protected disclosure and where …

No, hold on a second, I am not hiding anything. Let me be clear-----

The Deputy just does not like the answer

We elected representatives to this House who then passed legislation in 2014. Sinn Féin supported the legislation in 2022, which strengthened-----

I have been pretty clear in what I have said. It is a matter of public record that An Garda Síochána changed the holsters. It said that clearly. It is also a matter of public record that the Garda Síochána Act 2005 states clearly that procurement or any of the other matters the Deputy outlined are the role and responsibility of An Garda Síochána and that I had no role as Minister for Justice in that.

It is also clear-----

It is also clear - and we have done this for a reason - that there is a differentiation between the roles of An Garda Síochána, the actions and roles of the Ombudsman-----

-----and those of me or other Ministers. That was clearly introduced and voted for by this House in 2014 and again in 2022.

I thank the Deputy. There are two parts to what he asked. One is the matter of a protected disclosure and that is the information given by the individual last night. As I said, it is for individuals to disclose what they have disclosed, but it is not for me to discuss it. The matters discussed last night about the office, as the Deputy mentioned, are clearly, as was set out, the subject of an ongoing investigation, so it is not for me to comment on them. That is set out clearly in the 2014 Act. My understanding of …

I know I sound like I am repeating myself but it is important to say that the Act very clearly states that, under the law, it is not an option to comment on or confirm the existence or details of any specific protected disclosure. What the Deputy is referencing, what was highlighted last night and what was spoken of by individuals clearly suggests that is what is being talked about here. I am not trying to be evasive. I am trying to be very clear. Legislation was enacted that very clearly precludes my commenting on…

I will start where I finished in answering the last question. In my role as Minister for Justice, at all times and on any matter, I adhered to the law and the structures we have to adhere to under this Act and legislation. The Deputy can look elsewhere, shake his head at me or say that I was incompetent or whatever it is he was trying to suggest.

That is exactly what he has suggested. I have adhered to the legislation at all times. At all times, I ensured that I everything I did in the Department was to ensure accountability and oversight, even at times when that did not make me popular, which happened quite a lot. How did we make sure there were better structures in place? It was by introducing new legislation, putting in place better oversight mechanisms within the board of An Garda Síochána, making sure the audit committee had oversight of what happened …

I thank the Deputy. I too have met the family, and not just on that occasion I mentioned. It was the very first thing I did as Minister. I met them subsequently and I know how difficult and traumatic this is for them. I know they never want anybody else to go through that. The death and the murder of any individual is traumatic enough but for this to happen to somebody who is tasked with protecting each and every one of us is reprehensible. We all agree on that. I do not think anything we can do will ever take that…

I thank the Deputy. While I do not have the specific details of the case he outlined, I will bring this and all of the challenges he outlined directly back to the relevant Minister. Unfortunately, we still have a number of communities that are impacted by water infrastructure, much of which is decades old. It is important that the Government ensures that the significant amount of funding we have put directly into Irish Water is invested in communities and spent as quickly as possible and that the upgrades to our wa…

I fully agree with the Deputy. Irish Water should be and is accountable to every single person in this House.