Minister Pat Rabbitte TD publicly backs GSOC Chairman on Ireland AM.

Friday 14th, 12:37pm

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IMMEDIATE: Friday 14th February, 2014.

Minister Pat Rabbitte TD publicly backs GSOC Chairman on Ireland AM.

Minister for Communications, Energy and National Resources Pat Rabbitte TD tells Ireland AM’s Anton Savage that he “absolutely” has confidence in the Chairman of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.

The Minister believes we should wait to see what the Dáil Committee concludes before casually embarking on another public enquiry.

The Minister also says it’s too early to say whether Labour would coalesce with Fine Gael in the next General Election but stated if the programme for Government was acceptable that it would be a possibility.

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

Click hereto see the clip of Minister Pat Rabbitte speaking on Ireland AM.

Speaking on Ireland AM this morning, the Minister for Communications, Energy and National Resources, Pat Rabbitte TD, tells Anton Savage that he “absolutely” has confidence in the Chairman of GSOC.

Anton: “The big story of the week, The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), do you have confidence in the Chairman?”

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “Absolutely, and I have to say I’m on the record, I was Justice Spokesperson on the last Dáil, and I have long advocated, even before it was established that there would be a Garda Ombudsman, because it’s an immensely important role. It’s not realistic, and it’s in the best interest of the Garda Síochána, that in the 21st century, that there would be an oversight body, and it seems to me that the Ombudsman has done a good job. It’s a hugely important role. I certainly have confidence in them.”

Anton: “Despite the recent lack of clarity and confusion?”

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “Despite the lack of clarity, to some degree I suspect it goes with the territory, but it will be cleared up, and we’re still going to need a functioning Garda Síochána, and a capable Ombudsman, that is capable of invigilating the Gardaí, so whenever this clarifies itself, there will still be that important role.”

Anton: “And you wouldn’t want an Independent enquiry, you are happy that the process doesn’t require one?”

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “Well, I find it very difficult. We’d want to be reluctant in this country, given our past over the last 30 years, in embarking on a public enquiry casually. Let’s see what the Dáil Committee concludes. Let’s see what evidence the Minister gives to the Dáil Committee before casually agreeing to engage in another public enquiry.”

Anton: “Let us talk then about party matters, you have the convention coming up this weekend. Your cabinet colleague Ruairi Quinn said that it was a likely possibility that yourselves and Fine Gael would coalesce again subsequent to another General Election. It seems to be more the kind of talk that we associated with you as leader and the Mullingar accord than before the last General Election, where there was much more effort to distance the two parties. Is that deliberate or coincidence?”

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “Well at the height of the boom, my calculation was that the only basis we had for replacing Mr Ahern’s government at the time, was if we offered an alternative. The economy was roaring at the time. We’ve all learned a great deal since about that Government, and you know, people say my calculation was wrong, and maybe they’re right. But really, in the circumstances, the only prospect of an alternative Government was to present an alternative platform, and we did that. Times are different now of course. It really is impossible to look ahead to 2016, but I suppose the answer is that if the programme for Government was acceptable, then we would work with Fine Gael, but that’s a long way down the road.”

As well as speaking to Anton on issues like employment and income/property tax, Minister Pat Rabbitte also discussed how a National Government was a requirement to get us through the difficult times.

Anton: “The polls are trending in the right direction from your perspective, they hit an awful low at one point with I think the lowest showing single digits of six or seven per cent. Are you optimistic now that the arrows at least are pointing up?

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “I think we have to be able to explain to people that, in the words of Brian Lenihan at Dublin airport in November 2010, he found himself looking out the window at the snow and staring into the gates of hell. They were the circumstances that we took over. That was the legacy handed to us. We have to communicate to people that a Fine Gael Government alone if it had been possible to put one together, and it probably would have been with some Independents, was not capable of withstanding the hurricane that was coming.”

Anton: “And do you believe that that is becoming understood?”

Minister Pat Rabbitte: “Yes, you need a National Government that’s broadly based in order to survive the very difficult circumstances that we have come through”

Click hereto see the clip of Minister Pat Rabbitte talking on Ireland AM

Ireland AM airs Monday to Friday from 7am – 10.45am on TV3.

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ENDS

For further information
Ciara Byrne

Press Officer

01 419 3329

Sharon McHugh

Head of Press & Publicity

087 922 4143

publicity@tv3.ie
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