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Updated 1.23pm
TÁNAISTE EAMON GILMORE had refused to be drawn on whether an independent inquiry is needed into bugging at the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).
Speaking to RTÉ’s The Week in Politics, the Tánaiste said that current process is sufficient, highlighting that is passing through Oireachtas committees.
“It’s called accountability,” he said.
However, he noted that the Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is due to appear before a committee next week to discuss the matter, and that further developments could take place after this meeting.
“Public fears”
Speaking to the same programme, Fianna Fáil’s Justice Spokesperson Niall Collins that an independent investigation is needed to “allay the public fears”.
“What we need to do is get the bodies together, find out exactly the timeline of events,” he said, “We also need to find out from the minister why he wasn’t fortchoming to the Dail in terms of the information he had at his disposal.
That’s a very serious matter also.
Sinn Fein’s Aengus Ó Snodaigh noted that a commission of inquiry would be able to discovered much more than Oireachtas committees.
In the wide-ranging interview, Gilmore also said that he ‘doesn’t know’ if water charges will be finialised before St Patrick’s Day, as previously suggested by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan.
He reiterated that the government is looking for metered charges, and that charges will apply after a free household allowance.
“It’s important that we get it right”, he said, defending the potential of delays in the announcement.
The Tánaiste also confirmed that a cabinet reshuffle could take place later this year — but that younger TDs might not move up the ranks.
“I don’t think age comes into it,” he said, stressing that it should be more about capability and experience.
Originally published 12.45pm
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If any group deserves improved conditions it’s nurses. Nurses work an average of 1872 hours annually compared to 735 hours for a teacher yet it’s the teachers making all the noise….baffling!
@Soccer T’s: If teaching is so easy feel free to become a teacher.
If it’s so difficult feel free to change career
@Soccer T’s: Why should I stop being a doctor because teaching is a challenging job?
Patients will die for every minute nurses go on strike.
I hope the union thinks twice before beginning a genocide of our most vulnerable.
A little hyperbolic there al…
@Al Ca: sure the government via cuts to support have done that last few years.
@FifiJamming: Are you claiming that nurses don’t save lives? That’s a little insulting.
@Al Based on your comment, if nurses go on strike for 24 hours, 1440 people will die. Damn!
@Soccer T’s: The idea that 1,440 people would need urgent hospital care out of a population of 4.5 million is hardly shocking.
They won’t need care if they are all dead but they will need undertakers. Another career option for you
Well you’d better be a good Doctor.
Do YOUR job well and stop undermining others.
You said die… yes they’ll obv have urgent care, but you did say they’d all die because of the strike. Now if your arbitrary number is on top of the norm – then yes, your statement is hyperbolic
Oh god the world is just full of ignorant people. I am surprised daily even though I shouldn’t be shocked by it anymore.
And that comment is pointed directly at Al Ca. I genuinely don’t understand someone commenting on something they clearly have no knowledge about.
I bet the nurses you work with love you Al!
Article is a it misleading – it’s a work to rule FROM Tuesday mArch 7th, with one day work stoppages (strike days) to be announced. It’s not a work to rule ON Tuesday March 7th!
Unless the INMO talks with the WRC lead to a resolution on safe staffing, recruitment and retention measures that work.
https://www.inmo.ie/Home/Index/217/12858
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