Politicians need to be mature and not "respond to absolutely everything with a more outrageous demand for a head on a plate", the Minister for Education has told the Dáil.
Richard Bruton was addressing a Private Member's debate on a Fianna Fáil motion calling for additional powers for the Policing Authority in the wake of recent garda controversies.
The Fine Gael TD said he does not know if it has been caused by the "drive of social media" but politicians cannot continue demanding a "resignation at every revelation of wrongdoing."
Minister @RichardbrutonTD - Politicians seem determined to respond to everything with an 'outrageous demand for a head on a plate' @rtenews pic.twitter.com/DlFMFKKB9N
— Conor McMorrow (@ConorMcMorrow) April 11, 2017
Mr Bruton said there are mechanisms now through the Garda Inspectorate and the Police Authority that "we have a real programme of reform and that is being implemented by the authority led by some who I have the utmost respect for Josephine Feehily, former chairperson of the Revenue Commissioners."
"So we have put in place much better oversight but what we are seeing as a result of that oversight and the reform agenda, is we are seeing turned over and we are seeing appalling things come out from under those stones," he added.
"We in politics have to be mature enough not to run for demands for resignation at every revelation of wrongdoing.
"We have to have the patience and the good judgement to wait for the evidence to be sifted before we talk draw conclusions about where responsibility lies.
"It annoys me that in politics, that whether it is the drive of social media, to catch the next slice and catch the next media wave, we seem in politics absolutely determined to respond to absolutely everything with a more outrageous demand for a head on a plate.
"We need to respect the gardaí. They are entitled to the same fair procedure as everyone else," he concluded.
Tabling the motion, Fianna Fáil's justice spokesperson Jim O'Callaghan had said it is a blemish on our justice system that 14,700 wrongful convictions for road traffic offences remain on the records.
He said the Government must take immediate steps to rectify the crisis of confidence in the gardaí.
The motion, which is to be voted on on Thursday afternoon, calls on the Government "to request the Policing Authority to assess the role and capacity of the Garda Commissioner to restore public confidence in An Garda Síochána."
He said the Government should adopt a collaborate approach to resolving the difficulties in the force, adding that "it is important that we do have a plan for how we are going to improve policing over the next 70 or 80 years."
Responding to Mr O'Callaghan, the Tánaiste told the Dáil that the Policing Authority has the power to recommend the removal of senior gardaí, including the Commissioner.
However, she said the legal advice available to her was that there is no statutory mechanism allowing the Government to make a request to the Policing Authority to assess the capacity of the Commissioner to continue in her role.
Frances Fitzgerald said what emerged in recent weeks in An Garda Síochána was "as unacceptable as it was disturbing".
She said the Fennelly Report published last week showed that over the decades organisational problems have accumulated in the organisation that have not been fully addressed.
She said there was a need for profound and lasting change in the way An Garda Síochána does its work.
Sinn Féin's justice spokesperson Jonathan O'Brien said his party would not support the Fianna Fáil motion, or the Government's counter-motion.
He said efforts needed to be made to restore public confidence in the force. adding that said he morale in the force also needed to be improved.
Mr O'Brien also said Fianna Fáil should get off the fence, and decide whether they believe the Cabinet should remove the Garda Commissioner or not.
During the debate, Labour leader Brendan Howlin said the problems in the force are not just cultural but also structural.
The Wexford TD said that amidst the plethora of bodies and functions set up to overlook the gardaí, there is no body with the power and capacity to bring senior management into the modern age.
Solidarity - People Before Profit TD Mick Barry said that if the Garda Commissioner remains in her position it will be courtesy of Fianna Fáil.
He said that if the house were to vote no confidence in the Commissioner, she would have lost the confidence of the house and she would have been in a position where she had to resign.
Richard Boyd Barrett adopted a similar theme, saying that Ms O'Sullivan should be removed as it compromises the investigation.
Independents4Change Mick Wallace said that the Commissioner's engagement with the Garda Inspectorate shows she is not committed to reform, while Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall said it is quite clear that if the Commissioner is preparing herself to give evidence at the Charleton Inquiry she is not in a position to run the force.
