Seanad report: Jim Higgins (FG) claimed the Garda Commissioner had given inaccurate information about the redesignation of the McBrearty case.
Contributing to the debate on the Garda Síochána Bill, Mr Higgins said Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had been "popped" a question at a press conference last week about the redesignation.
The Garda Commissioner had taken up the question and had said that although the case had been redesignated as a road traffic accident in 2002 he, in his capacity as deputy commissioner, had not been made aware of this until 2004.
"I watched the Minister's observations, I watched his visage and reaction, and to me there was a tell-tale reaction, that the Minister was simply agog at what the Garda Commissioner was saying, because of the fact that the Garda Commissioner gave inaccurate information."
Addressing the Minister, Mr Higgins said: "In relation to the redesignation of a case, I don't know what you said to the commissioner when you got him into the back room, but you obviously said something to him."
The procedures were quite clear in relation to the redesignation of a case, added Mr Higgins. "The decision is taken in the first instance by the local district officer. It goes from there to the inspector for observations and from there to the superintendent."
Mr McDowell intervened to accuse Mr Higgins of time-wasting with out-of-order material that had nothing to do with what they were debating. The Minister said he had been told the Seanad was unhappy with the fact a guillotine had been used in the Dáil.
However, that had been done in a situation where there had been massive time wasting. The same thing was now happening in the Seanad, he complained.
Mr Higgins replied that the point he was making in relation to redesignation was that "it goes right up to the deputy commissioner's office" and it was only then that a redesignation could be allowed. In this particular case the redesignation had been on the desk of the then deputy commissioner, Noel Conroy, the current Commissioner. But that was for another day. "We will await further revelations in that regard."
Criticising the booing of the Taoiseach at a recent U2 concert in Croke Park, the leader of the House, Mary O'Rourke, said she thought that it was bad manners for any section of an audience to boo a person in authority. "I don't think Taoisigh should be booed."
Mrs O'Rourke said she understood from two young members of her family who had been present, that "there was a section of the audience that were revved up to boo".
Kathleen O'Meara (Lab) said she had been in attendance and she wished to say Mrs O'Rourke's statement was not correct.
Earlier, Brendan Ryan (Lab) said Mr Ahern had been yet again been booed in Croke Park, and deservedly so.