.IT IS a case of being “too little too late” for Minister For Justice Alan Shatter to apologise to the Dail and correct the record over the garda whistleblower affair, according to his political opposition.
Fianna Fáil Justice Spokesperson Niall Collins TD has described Alan Shatter’s comments in Dáil Éireann as “a belated admission of wrong doing on the part of the Minister that is simply too little, too late”.
Deputy Collins commented: “For months, Minister Alan Shatter point blank refused to accept that he had made an absolute mess of this issue, that he had misrepresented the activities of the two Garda whistleblowers and that he owed them an apology. Today, as ministerial colleagues abandoned support for the beleaguered Justice Minister, he finally admitted his wrongdoing and offered a half-hearted apology to the two men who spoke up.”
24 hours after the shock retirement of Martin Callinan from the position of garda Commissioner, Mr Shatter took to the floor of the Dail and wasted little time in addressing the matter.
He said that his comments were “incorrect” and it was never his intention to “mislead” the house over the garda informants.
However he did say that not all matters were fully investigated.
Despite this correction, Deputy collins says that the minister was still trying to share blame with others.
“Even as the apology was finally dragged from the Minister, he was still casting around trying to find others to share responsibility for his misjudgement. The latest ‘culprits’ today were those involved in the internal investigation that Sgt McCabe and Mr Wilson were accused of not co-operating with.
“Another notable factor today was the absence of any supportive comments from the Labour Party. It is our hope that those voices within the Parliamentary Labour Party who recognise the damage that Minister Shatter is doing might finally be listened to and that Labour will finally join with Fianna Fáil in recognising that Minister Alan Shatter is no longer the person to lead the administration of justice in this country.”
