Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Pa Daly TD, has said that Tánaiste Micheál Martin’s comments regarding the justice system beggar belief.

The Tánaiste confirmed to Newstalk that he felt a number of prosecutions in relation to the Dublin riots were not proceeding quickly enough.

Teachta Daly said:

“I was struck by the second extraordinary statement by the Tánaiste this week when he claimed that he feels the Justice system is not functioning well enough. This is a strange statement given the Tánaiste’s role in facilitating Fine Gael’s 13-year-long tenure in the Department of Justice.

“We have delays in the courts, overcrowded prisons and a crisis of numbers and morale within An Garda Síochána. The Tánaiste has voted and expressed confidence in Fine Gael Ministers for Justice in this time, yet he now is attempting to distance himself from the consequences of his party’s role in recent years.

“The solutions a Sinn Féin-led government would bring would address these issues including removing non-core duties from Gardaí, implementing our housing plan and creating a retention and recruitment taskforce to report back urgently.

“We also need to explore the possibility of a second Garda Training Centre to achieve the increase in numbers required by the rise in population. Within the courts and prisons, we would invest in Restorative Justice and explore extra sittings of courts.

“Minister Martin is fooling no one in the run up to an election. The message this gives is clear: It is time for change – before the mess he and his allies in government have created gets any worse.”