FF Requests Publication of Disputed Shatter Letter
Published on: 31 March 2014
Fianna Fáil Justice Spokesperson Niall Collins TD has called on Minister Alan Shatter to immediately publish the letter that was sent from Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan on 10 th March asking that the Minister be made aware of the Garda recordings issue.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Fianna Fáil motion of no confidence in the Minister, Deputy Collins commented, “While our motion of no confidence is based on a multi layered analysis of Alan Shatter’s mishandling of his portfolio, clearly the issue of Garda station recording systems and the Government’s response to it is a major source of public concern.
“The story of what happened and the timeline presented by Government is increasingly garbled and one of the key objectives of our motion in Dáil Éireann will be to try and prise from Government some more detail of what really happened in recent months. The letter from former Commissioner Martin Callinan to Minister Alan Shatter is a critically important document in that context.
“I am calling on the Minister to make that letter available to the Opposition today for examination ahead of the Dáil sitting. It has been proposed by Government that the delay between the letter being received and the Minister being made aware of its contents was reasonable. There also appears to have been an effort in the background over the weekend to suggest that if the Commissioner really wanted the Minister to be made aware of the issue, he would have contacted him directly.
“Seeing the letter, hearing its tone and understanding its context would all be important to make a fair judgement on whether these Government claims are reasonable. I look forward to Minister Shatter’s response.”