My Labour Party colleagues Deputies Eoghan Kenny and Alan Kelly have recently uncovered alarming details of a shocking sweetener given to the former Garda Commissioner. Last week, we learned from them that roughly €1 million in public money went towards accommodation, refurbishment and security for one of the highest paid public servants in the State. Public funds covered a rent-free home for the former Garda Commissioner in the Phoenix Park at a time when many ordinary gardaí cannot afford to rent or buy in Dublin. We need to know why the public was kept in the dark on this for so long. Deputy Kenny has already sought responses from the Garda and the OPW but I want to put these questions on the record of the Dáil. Why was a house leased from the OPW before the recruitment process even began? What does this say about the fairness of the 2018 selection process for the Garda Commissioner if this accommodation deal was never publicly acknowledged as part of the package? Clearly, multiple questions arise from this revelation and we need to have answers.

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