FIANNA FÁIL LEADER Micheál Martin has said that he feels Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is “being unfair to gardaí” following a TV interview last night.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Prime Time programme in response to questions about the Jobstown verdict, Varadkar said it is imperative that what gardaí say on the stand in court is correct.
“We need to be able to trust that when the gardaí stand up in court and they say something happened that it did happen and it shouldn’t conflict with video evidence and if it does then that is a problem,” he said.
The Taoiseach added that he would be “very concerned if it’s the case that we would ever have gardaí on a stand in the court giving evidence that is not in line with the facts”.
Responding to An Taoiseach’s answers in relation to the case, Martin tweeted a short response in which he questioned Varadkar’s conclusion.
Fianna Fáil is the second-largest party in the Dáil and has signed up to a confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael that facilitates Varadkar’s minority government.
Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, one of six men found not guilty of false imprisonment in the Jobstown case, has called for a public inquiry into the garda investigation.
In last night’s interview, Varadkar said he did not think an inquiry was required but that the failure of the case should be examined.
“As has been the case with other things, you know for example the trial of Sean Fitzpatrick, I do think we need to consider why the prosecutions weren’t successful,” he said.
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